John Mansfield, who was jailed for life in 2007 for the drug-fuelled murder of his neighbour Ann Alfanso, was set upon at inside HMP Whitemoor, which is near March, Cambridgeshire
Convicted murderer John Mansfield died “by having a weight smashed on his head” during a brutal attack inside the gym of a high-security prison, it is reported.
Mansfield was serving life at HMP Whitemoor near March, Cambridgeshire, for killing his elderly neighbour Ann Alfanso, 63, in a drug-fuelled rage. The career criminal died there of a head injury on Sunday, authorities confirmed.
Now it is claimed the killer, 63, was hit in the head by a weight inside a gym. Two women, whose partners are currently inmates at the 458-capacity jail, spoke to reporters about their understanding of the death. One said: “It happened inside a secure unit. I got told about this late at night. I got a phone call to say that someone had been murdered in the prison. I was worried because we did not get told who the victim was right away straight away. Things happen in that prison and nobody knows about it.”
The jail is meant to be one of the most secure in the country but this incident has sparked warnings from experts about a “collapse in security” in the prisons housing Britain’s most dangerous criminals.
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The second woman told Mail Online: ‘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.”
A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody in connection with Mansfield’s death. Mansfield, originally from Manchester, had been told he was unlikely to ever be released from prison following his 2014 attack on John Orme, a convicted rapist held at HMP Full Sutton, near York.
Then aged 52, Mansfield was said to have walked up to Orme in his cell and told him “I have a present for you” before slashing him seven times with a broken plate in a row over a cooking pot. The attack severed his victim’s artery leaving him requiring 22 stitches.
Mansfield received a second life sentence in 2014 for the attack. He had also been convicted over a separate incident in 2011 that saw him batter a man he hated with a chair leg inside Strangeways Prison in Manchester.
Speaking about Mansfield’s death initially, a Cambridgeshire Police spokesperson said officers were called at about 4.10pm on Sunday “following the discovery of the body of a man in his 60s at HMP Whitemoor near March”.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Police are investigating the death of prisoner John Mansfield at HMP Whitemoor on Sunday, April 13. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.” The Prison and Probation Ombudsman will also investigate, as is procedure.
