Murderer ‘beaten to death by rival inmate armed with weight in jail gym’

A convicted murderer killed behind bars last weekend was bludgeoned with a weight in the high security prison’s gym, it has been claimed.

John Mansfield, who was jailed for life in 2007 for the murder of his 63-year-old neighbour Ann Alfanso, was found dead at HMP Whitemoor near March, Cambridgeshire, on Sunday.

Police were called to Whitemoor at about 4.10pm on Sunday after Mansfield’s body was discovered, and he was pronounced dead at the jail at 4.27pm.

A Cambridgeshire Police spokesman said initial findings from the post-mortem examination revealed the 63-year-old died from a head injury.

Rumours have been circulating among inmates that Mansfield was attacked with a weight inside the gym, MailOnline reports.

Two women whose partners are serving sentences there repeated the same account as they spoke of their fears for inmates’ safety.

One said: ‘I heard it happened in the gym. The same thing, that someone got hit with weights and died. To be fair, he deserved it. He killed some 80-year-old woman. People don’t like that.

‘One of the other visitors phoned it [the information] to me. I’m worried it could happen to my husband.’

The security breach came a day after Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi attacked three prison officers with hot cooking oil in kitchen at HMP Frankland.

A former officer at Frankland warned Abedi ‘will kill someone one day’ and told Metro nothing can prevent attacks until the government starts prioritising staff safety over the comfort of criminals.

Mansfield was sentenced in 2007 at Manchester Crown Court to life in prison with a minimum term of 30 years for the murder of Ms Alfanso.

Ms Alfanso, who suffered from reduced mobility, was found dead at her home in Whalley Range, Manchester, by her carer in August 2006. She had been stabbed around 20 times in the head and neck.

In 2014, Mansfield was handed a second life term after stabbing another prisoner with a broken plate at HMP Full Sutton, near York.

A police spokesman said: ‘A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

‘He remains in prison custody and under investigation.’

The force has confirmed the arrested man is a serving prisoner.

The spokesman added: ‘Initial findings from a post-mortem conducted at Addenbrooke’s Hospital on Wednesday concluded Mr Mansfield died as a result of a head injury.’

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