Mark Bridger has been attacked in prison by a fellow inmate.

Bridger, who was found guilty of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones, was slashed with a makeshift blade by a fellow inmate at HMP Wakefield on Sunday, according to reports.

He was taken to a local hospital where he needed stitches, The Sun has reported.

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A Prison Service spokeswoman said: “A prisoner from HMP Wakefield was taken to hospital on 7 July. The incident is being investigated by the police.”

Bridger, 47, is serving a life sentence for kidnapping April close to her home in the Bryn Y Gog estate in Machynlleth, mid-Wales before sexually abusing her, murdering her and then disposing of her body last October.

He was handed a whole life sentence in May by trial judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams after a jury took four hours to find him guilty following a month-long trial.

April had been playing with friends close to her home on the Bryn Y Gog estate in Machynlleth, mid-Wales when Bridger enticed her into his car.

Bridger has never revealed what he did with April's body, although skull fragments were discovered in his fireplace.

Police believe he dismembered her body before dumping parts at various locations in the hills, rivers and forests surrounding his home in Cienws, Mid-Wales, after traces of her blood were found all over his rented cottage.