Inmate arrested on suspicion of murdering convicted killer in high-security prison

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An inmate has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a convicted killer at a high-security prison.

A Prison Service spokesperson said John Mansfield was found dead at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire on Sunday.

Mansfield, 63, was jailed for life in 2007 for the murder of his 63-year-old neighbour Ann Alfanso.

Sky News understands he was attacked by another inmate.

Cambridgeshire Police said the force was called at around 4.10pm after the body of a man in his 60s was found.

“A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. An investigation is ongoing,” the force said in a statement.

It was the second major security breach on the prison estate over the weekend after the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber attacked three officers on Saturday.

The Prison Officers Association (POA) said 28-year-old Hashem Abedi – the brother of Salman Abedi – threw hot cooking oil over the guards before stabbing them with “improvised knives”, potentially made from a baking tray.

The Ministry of Justice said it will carry out a review following the attack at HMP Frankland, County Durham.

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Mansfield was 45 when he was sentenced in 2007 at Manchester Crown Court to life in prison with a minimum term of 30 years for Ms Alfanso’s murder.

She was found dead at her home in Whalley Range, Manchester, by her carer in August 2006 after being stabbed around 20 times in the head and neck.

He was handed a second life sentence in 2014 for stabbing another prisoner with a broken plate at HMP Full Sutton near York.

Earlier this month, three prisoners serving life sentences at Whitemoor were handed extra jail time for an attack on a prison officer in August 2023.

The high-security prison has a capacity of 458 adult male prisoners who are mostly serving long sentences.