Second life sentence for inmate who slashed child killer

A LIFE prisoner slashed child killer Mark Bridger from temple to chin, severing an artery, to get him to reveal where April Jones’s body was hidden, a court heard yesterday.
Mark Bridger (left) and Juvinai FerreiraMark Bridger (left) and Juvinai Ferreira
Mark Bridger (left) and Juvinai Ferreira

Convicted murderer and rapist Juvinal Ferreira, 24, attacked Bridger in July with a knife fashioned out of a razor at the top security Wakefield Prison.

He was sentenced to a second life sentence at Leeds Crown Court and had five years added to his minimum term, meaning he will not be released before 2036.

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Ferreira, who was born in Guinea and grew up in Gambia, previously admitted wounding with intent.

Ferreira and other life prisoners had talked about attacking Bridger to make him reveal the whereabouts of April’s body, police were told.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said: “He said that Bridger’s crime had been discussed, and he claimed people had suggested that if Bridger was attacked, rather than say befriended, Bridger would then be more likely to reveal where April Jones’s body was.”

The premeditated attack happened three days after Bridger was allowed to associate with other prisoners.

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Ferreira fashioned a weapon out of a prison-issue razor with extra blades attached to the handle.

Mr Sharp said: “The defendant saw him and walked directly up to him with the blade held between thumb and forefinger.

“He then slashed him down the face, causing a deep wound extending from temple to chin.”

He required more than 30 stitches to the face wound, which required surgery. He will be scarred for life.

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Mr Justice Coulson, who sentenced Ferreira over a videolink, said the motive for the attack was no mitigation.

“Convicted murderers cannot appoint themselves as unpaid investigators of another crime, no matter how serious. They plainly cannot do that by themselves committing violent crime to do so.”

Ferreira was at least 24, the court heard. He arrived in the UK in 2007 with his mother and the following April he raped and murdered 47-year-old Elaine Walpole in Dereham, Norfolk, after befriending her.