PETER Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper was in danger of losing his sight last night after being stabbed in both eyes with a pen by a fellow murderer at Broadmoor special hospital in Berkshire.
Sutcliffe (50), jailed for 30 years after being convicted of 13 murders in 1981, was treated at a "specialist eye unit after receiving "serious" injuries inflicted with a fibre tipped pen. After the treatment at Frimley Park Hospital, in Camberley, Surrey, he was taken back to Broadmoor, which is equipped to offer post operative care at its infirmary.
It is not yet known whether he has lost his sight in either of his eyes or how quickly he is expected to recover.
Sutcliffe's attacker is believed to have been Ian Kay, who was convicted of the murder of a Woolworths trainee manager, John Penfold in 1995, two separate sources told PA News. Mr Penfold (21) was stabbed through the heart with a kitchen knife in November 1994 at the Woolworths branch in Teddington, south west London.
According to a Broadmoor source, a row developed yesterday afternoon between Kay and Sutcliffe at the special hospital, which houses some of the Britain's most dangerous criminals. "An argument started and before staff could reach him, Kay had attacked Sutcliffe stabbing at his face with a felt tip.
Sutcliffe, who was attacked last February at the Berkshire hospital when a fellow patient tried to garrotte him with a piece of flex, was not being held in isolation but was on a normal ward.
The attack comes just a week after the Health Secretary, Mr Stephen Dorrell, announced a wide ranging review of the management of Broadmoor.