April Jones murderer’s throat slashed by inmates

9^th July 2013

Molly Kersey

Molly Kersey

9 July 2013

A fellow prisoner at HMP Wakefield has attacked Mark Bridger, the man found guilty of the murder of five-year-old April Jones. The prisoner reportedly used a makeshift blade to slash Bridger’s face.

The attack occurred on Sunday and Bridger was reportedly transported to a local hospital to be given stitches. A spokeswoman for the Prison Service stated: “A prisoner from HMP Wakefield was taken to hospital on 7^th July. The incident is being investigated by the police.”

Bridger is just two months into a life sentence given to him by judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams in May. Bridger was imprisoned for persuading April Jones to get into his car before assaulting and murdering her and disposing of her body in October 2012. Despite fragments of the young girl’s skull being found in his fireplace, Bridger has not yet disclosed where he hid April’s body.    

After his month long trial, during which a jury took just four hours to find him guilty, Bridger was taken to HMP Wakefield, renowned as the largest maximum security prison in the UK. The prison also holds a number of other notorious child killers such as Mick Philpott, Roy Whiting and Levi Belfield.

Despite the fact that Bridger was kept away from other inmates for his own safety prior to the attack, incidents like this have been known to occur in the past. Ian Huntley, who murdered Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, was attacked at Wakefield when a fellow inmate threw a bucket of boiling water over him in September 2005. He was later transferred to HMP Frankland where his throat was slashed by another inmate in 2010.      

Molly Kersey