A double murderer stabbed child killer Roy Whiting twice in the face with a sharpened toilet brush because he was “a dirty little nonce”, a court heard.
Powerfully built Gary Vinter, 43, threatened to pick a high-profile target in July last year because he wanted to change the conditions in which he was held at Wakefield prison, Andrew Kershaw, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court.
Appearing over a videolink from Long Lartin Prison in Worcestershire, when he heard Mr Kershaw say there was no evidence the particular character of Whiting played a part in his choice of victim, Vinter interrupted: “He was a dirty little nonce, that’s why I did it.”
Whiting, a convicted sex offender, was jailed for life in 2001 for the abduction and murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne.
The court heard Vinter sneaked into Whiting’s cell and stabbed him near his eyes with the sharpened handle.
“On the second stabbing the tip of the weapon broke, leaving a piece of plastic in the victim’s eye socket,” said Mr Kershaw.
Vinter then kicked and punched Whiting as he lay slumped against the cell wall.
He later told prison authorities the only reason Whiting was still alive was that he got tired during the attack.
He said as a full life-term prisoner, he had no hope of release. “It was calculated to manipulate the prison authorities into changing the conditions under which he was detained,” said Mr Kershaw.
Whiting had stitches in his eyelids and the plastic removed at Pinderfields Hospital.
After three months of blurred vision in his left eye, he made a full recovery, apart from some numbness in the area.
Vinter, from Middlesbrough, admitted wounding with intent and told Mr Justice Openshaw “thank you very much judge, it’s been a pleasure” when he was given an indefinite sentence for public protection with a minimum five years concurrent with his life sentence.
He is one of three prisoners challenging his full life term before European Human Rights judges next week. That was imposed for the murder of his wife after he previously served life for murdering a workmate.