A convicted murderer has been killed by another prisoner in another jail security failure just a day after three prison officers were brutally attacked.
John Mansfield, who was jailed for life in 2007 for the drug-fuelled murder of his neighbour Ann Alfanso, 63, was attacked inside HMP Whitemoor, Cambs on Sunday.
Mansfield, who had 75 previous convictions, was murdered in the prison’s close supervision centre, where inmates are supposed to be closely monitored.
It comes just a day after three prison officers were doused with boiling hot oil and stabbed with makeshift weapons in a similar unit.
In a separate attack on Saturday, Manchester Arena terrorist Hashem Abedi attacked three prison officers inside a separation centre in HMP Frankland, Co Durham.
In the latest incident, Mansfield, 63, was attacked by a fellow prisoner and died despite the efforts of prison staff.
Experts are now warning of a ‘collapse in security’ in the jails housing Britain’s most dangerous criminals.
John Mansfield was jailed for life at Manchester Crown Court for the brutal murder of Ann Alfanso, 63, of Whalley Range
Ann Alfanso was found dead in her home after Mansfield stabbed her almost 100 times
Professor Ian Acheson, a former prison governor who has advised the Government on extremism in jails, said: ‘Two violent incidents over the weekend at our highest security prisons have lifted the lid on a collapse of security and safety for both staff and prisoners.
‘This is completely unacceptable. But it is also becoming normalised. HMP Whitemoor, a modern, purpose built maximum security prison was described in 2023 by the Chief Inspector as the ‘filthiest’ prison he had ever inspected.
‘If you can’t get the bins emptied in these places you can be sure everything else is going wrong too.’
A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Mansfield, a prison service official said.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman 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.’
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 behind 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.
It was the second time he had been convicted of a prison attack.
In 2011 he was convicted of wounding a man he hated with a chair leg inside Manchester’s Strangeways Prison.
Sentencing him to a second life term in 2014, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC, said: ‘This was a pre-planned and calculating attack on a fellow inmate. You would have carried on had you not been prevented.
‘I doubt very much it will ever be safe to release you. I have no doubt you are a very dangerous criminal who regards violence as the norm, who has no hesitation but to kill when necessary.
‘You killed an old lady. Now you have convictions for two violent offences in prison. I have every reason to believe it will never be safe to release you. You are a violent and very dangerous man who poses a considerable threat to the public.’
Mansfield claimed he could not remember stabbing his first victim when he was first captured.
Ann Alfanso was found dead in her home in May Road, Whalley Range, Manchester in 2006.
She had been stabbed about 20 times in the head and neck.
John Mansfield, who was jailed for life in 2007 for the drug-fuelled murder of his neighbour Ann Alfanso, 63, was attacked inside HMP Whitemoor (pictured)
HMP Whitemoor, a maximum security prison for men in Category A and B, in March, Cambridgeshire
A post-mortem examination found she had a total of 97 wounds, bruises and cuts on her body as a result of the attack.
Mansfield admitted her murder which police believe he carried out for a ‘pocketful of change’.
Det Insp Steve Eckerlsey said at the time: ‘The murder of this woman was shocking enough in its violence and cowardice, but for her murderer to repeatedly state that he couldn’t even remember stabbing her almost 100 times is even more astonishing.
‘Ann was an easy target as she wasn’t able to move very quickly and had to have home help, as her neighbour Mansfield knew only too well.
‘He has admitted that he used to talk to Ann, and even do some shopping for her occasionally.
‘We will never know or understand what made him turn from a seemingly helpful neighbour into a savage killer that day.
‘It would appear the only thing Mansfield got out of murdering Ann was a pocketful of small change.
‘His actions that day were totally senseless and inhuman, but he knew exactly what he was doing.’
