ROY WHITING, the man jailed for murdering Sarah Payne, admitted his crime yesterday while telling Leeds Crown Court how he feared for his life in prison.

Whiting, 44, who has always previously denied kidnapping and murdering the eight-year-old, was giving evidence about a razor attack on him in Wakefield Prison in August 2002, which left a six-inch scar on his face.

Mr Christopher Tehrani, for the defence, asked him: “You are serving a life sentence for murder? You kidnapped and then killed Sara Payne?” Whiting replied: “Correct.”

“A young girl under the age of ten?” he was asked. Whiting replied: “Correct.”

He told the jury how he had been attacked as he walked back to his cell after filling a flask with hot water. He felt a “sharp pain” on the side of his face but when he turned around, there was nobody there.

Whiting put his hand up to the six-inch scar which runs down the side of his face as he gave evidence.

Rickie Tregaskis, 35, a fellow inmate, denied the attack. He has pleaded not guilty to unlawful wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Whiting, who looked pale and drawn with long dark hair hanging down the back of his grey sweatshirt, told the jury that he was wary and used precautions when moving about the prison because of the ever-present risk of attack.

Although when he was on remand before his trial in 2001 he had been kept separate from other prisoners, there is no facility for separation at Wakefield. He said that inmates jailed for “normal” offences would not associate with him and that he had to remain vigilant.

He said: “I always look around to see who is around and when I go to work and come back I (try to make sure I) am with prisoners I know.” Adrian Waterman, for the prosecution, told the court that Whiting’s trial had attracted a good deal of notoriety and Tregaskis took it upon himself to exact retribution.

Mr Waterman told the court: “(Tregaskis) has no connection with Sarah Payne or her family. We say he did this because he hated what Roy Whiting had done. We all, no doubt, hate what Roy Whiting did. However, he received a fair trial — as was right and proper — and was fairly convicted by a jury.

“Only by treating him as all other people does society have the right to judge and punish. These standards must be applied across the board.”

Mr Waterman said that the attack, which happened on a Sunday afternoon on a second-floor landing, was probably carried out with two parallel razor blades.

The jury was shown photographs of a blood trail leading from the scene of the attack close to the defendant’s cell back to Whiting’s cell.

Whiting told the court that he had decided to fill his flask before the evening meal. As he walked from his cell, number seven, he saw a shaven-headed inmate leaning on the landing railing. He did not know who the man was, only that he had returned to the wing after being away.

“I had seen him around but I had never spoken to him,” he said.

He told the jury: “As I passed cell 11 I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and then felt a sharp stinging pain on my face. I turned round to see who was there but I could not see anyone.” He was taken to hospital for treatment.

Mr Waterman told the jury: “The issue in this case is: who did it? The Crown will say there is no doubt that the defendant carried out the attack.”

Whiting was jailed for life for murdering Sarah Payne, whose body was found in Pulborough, West Sussex, in 2001.

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