A MAN serving a life sentence for one of East Anglia's most notorious murders has been attacked in prison.Jack Whomes, who was jailed for his part in the murder of three Essex drug dealers, was knifed in the hand and also suffered injuries to his abdomen on March 13 as he took a shower in Whitemoor prison, Cambridgeshire.

A MAN serving a life sentence for one of East Anglia's most notorious murders has been attacked in prison.

Jack Whomes, who was jailed for his part in the murder of three Essex drug dealers, was knifed in the hand and also suffered injuries to his abdomen on March 13 as he took a shower in Whitemoor prison, Cambridgeshire.

Whomes and Michael Steele, 60, of Aingers Green, Great Bentley, was found guilty of the brutal killings of Patrick Tate, Craig Rolfe, and Tony Tucker.

The trio were blasted to their deaths as they sat in a Range Rover in an isolated lane in Rettendon, near Chelmsford in 1995. Both men have always protested their innocence.

Whomes, 43, of Brockford, near Stowmarket, is waiting to hear whether his case will be referred for appeal.

John, his brother, from Gilsingham near Eye, said: "My brother was in the showers and a bloke started getting funny with him and my brother just told him to clear off.

"He came back a few minutes later and asked another bloke who was in the showers to leave so he could talk to my brother.

"He then pulled out a kitchen knife and there was a struggle. The knife snapped in half. My brother had hold of him so that it paralysed him and was shouting for help.

"He was stabbed in the abdomen five or six times and both his hands needed stitching up. The knife punctured him in his abdomen but didn't go in too deep. It was a big thing."

Mr Whomes, 42, said the incident had frightened his brother and his family was worried for his welfare.

The family of Whomes, a married father-of-two, has campaigned for years to prove his innocence and claims the evidence of so called 'supergrass' Darren Nicholls in the case should be discredited.

They are hoping that the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will conclude its investigation into both men's cases soon and determine whether they can go to the Court of Appeal.

The inquiry became more complicated when Hertfordshire police were brought in to investigate Essex Police and Mr Whomes said he would "love to know what they have stumbled on".

He added: "There's lots of evidence to free Jack but they must have something even bigger."

A mobile phone expert has also said he has "significant" evidence that removes Whomes from the scene of the crime.

He said that his brother had managed to develop a strategy for coping with the last eight years in prison, mainly by "keeping himself to himself".

But he added: "He's always said 'I will come out the same person I was'. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it. He's trying to keep the same but think of everything that's changed out here."

A spokeswoman from the Prison Service said: "There was a minor incident between two prisoners. One prisoner received a minor injury to his hand. The perpetrator was placed on a prisoner's report and will be dealt with internally."