Sarah Payne's killer Roy Whiting stabbed in prison and left 'covered in blood'

A child killed was stabbed and left covered in blood following an attack in prison.

Roy Whiting, 59, is currently serving time in HMP Wakefield for the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne in July 2000. Whiting was taken to hospital on Thursday (February 8) after being attacked.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "A prisoner at HMP Wakefield was attacked on Thursday evening and received hospital treatment. The prisoner is back in prison in a stable condition and the incident is being investigated by police."

Whiting was found guilty of Sarah's murder after the young girl went missing from her grandparents' home in Ferring near Worthing. Her body was found two weeks after she was last seen, in an undergrowth off the A29 near Pulborough 15 miles from the home.

Whiting was jailed for a minimum of 40 years in 2001 after being found guilty of Sarah's abduction and murder. He was also one of the first people to be placed on the sex offenders' registers in the UK due to a previous conviction in which he abducted and sexually assaulted an eight-year-old girl in 1995.

His inclusion on the sex offenders' register and the connection to Sarah's case saw her family campaign for controlled access to the registry. 'Sarah's law' passed in 2011, allowing anyone to find out whether a person who has contact with children is a child sex offender.