Sarah Payne’s evil killer Roy Whiting left fighting for his life after being ‘drenched in blood’ in savage jail attack by two murderers

CHILD killer Roy Whiting was left “drenched in blood” in a savage jail attack.

The monster, 59 - caged for life in 2001 for the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne - was “left for dead” after being jumped by two convicted murderers in his cell.

Paedophile Whiting was stabbed “repeatedly” with makeshift blades before alert officers at top security Wakefield prison, West Yorks, intervened.

He was rushed by ambulance to hospital in nearby Leeds in a “critical” condition with multiple stab wounds to his upper body - and medics at first feared he would not survive the night.

But in a grim irony, the speedy response of prison officers and NHS staff almost certainly saved the fiend’s life.

Sources said he received vital treatment before losing too much blood.

And after being carefully monitored he was last night back on Wakefield’s healthcare wing and in a “stable” condition.

A source said: “If Whiting had been stabbed in the street he might have died.

“Because he was in prison, every alarm was raised and he was rushed to hospital within minutes.

“It’s testament to the professionalism of the staff involved that he survived.

“He may not deserve it, but he’s a lucky man indeed.”

Whiting is understood to have been in his cell when two fellow inmates burst in on Thursday.

Sources said they rained down blows upon him.

One added: “He was drenched in blood.”

It is the third time Whiting, who is serving at least 40 years, has been seriously targeted in prison.

In January 2016 he was clobbered with a hot water flask but did not need hospital treatment.

Five years earlier double murderer Gary Vinter stabbed Whiting in the eye with a sharpened toilet brush handle.

Whiting did not lose an eye in the assault, which was carried out by 6ft 7in Vinter just yards from the fiend's cell.

And in 2002, murderer Rickie Tregaskis slashed Whiting's face, leaving him with a six-inch scar on his right cheek.

Whiting snatched eight-year-old Sarah in July 2000 from a country lane near her grandparents' home in Kingston Gorse, West Sussex, as she was playing hide and seek with her sister and two brothers. He was quizzed over her disappearance the next day but was released, only to be re-arrested later.

The mechanic refused to admit his involvement in her death but was found guilty of her murder in December 2001 and jailed for life. In 2010 his 50-year minimum tariff was cut to 40.

Whiting’s offending began in 1995 when he snatched a girl of nine and subjected her to a horrific sexual assault.

He was arrested and got four years' jail for kidnap and indecent assault.

However he was freed after two years and five months.

Sarah's heartbroken mum Sara went on to become a campaigner to help protect other youngsters from paedophiles.

She helped bring in Sarah's Law to allow people to know if convicted sex attackers were living near them.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “A prisoner at HMP Wakefield was attacked on Thursday evening and received hospital treatment.

“The prisoner is now back in the prison in a stable condition and the incident is being investigated by the police.”