EXCLUSIVEBy Juliette MaxamMASS murderer Jeremy Bamber has been stabbed in the neck after a gang of prisoners pounced on him in while he was talking on the telephone in jail.

EXCLUSIVE

By Juliette Maxam

MASS murderer Jeremy Bamber has been stabbed in the neck after a gang of prisoners pounced on him in while he was talking on the telephone in jail.

The farmer's son - who was convicted of killing his mother, father, sister and twin nephews at the family home in Tolleshunt D'Arcy in 1985 - was taken to hospital after the attack on Saturday afternoon.

Bamber was given stitches to the wound, which was on the back of his neck, and was returned to the jail, where he spent the night in the prison hospital.

It is believed Bamber was attacked with a home-made knife made in the workshop at Full Sutton jail, near York. He was understood to be back on his prison wing yesterday and was said to be "feeling fine".

A spokesman for the Prison Service said: "We don't discuss any assaults on individual prisoners. However, I can confirm an assault did take place. Police were informed and the prisoner was taken for treatment at an outside hospital."

Bamber was talking on the telephone when the attack happened. He told the caller there were a lot of people gathering round and then the phone went dead.

At first the caller believed the attack was far worse, with reports the gang had slit Bamber's neck and just missed his jugular artery by an inch.

The caller, who asked not to be named, told the East Anglian Daily Times that Bamber had been in contact yesterday to say he was fine.

The prison governor had spoken to Bamber about the attack, said the caller, who added: "It's happened in the past - all prisoners get attacked."

Bamber has remained a high-profile prisoner since he was jailed in 1986 by a judge, who described him as "evil beyond belief".

He was convicted of shooting his adoptive parents, Nevill and June, his model sister, Sheila Caffell, and her twin six-year-olds, Nicholas and Daniel, at White House Farm in August 1985.

But Bamber has consistently insisted he was innocent and has launched many legal appeals against his conviction.

In March, he appointed high-profile lawyer, Giovanni di Stefano, who claimed he had evidence that could quash the life sentence.

The Italian-born lawyer said evidence submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission had revealed Bamber had been outside the farm with police while officers were having a conversation with someone inside. Essex Police dismissed the claim as "nothing new".

juliette.maxam@eadt.co.uk