Bellfied Sues After Attack In Wakefield Prison

3 August 2011, 10:49 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Claims this morning Millie Dowler's killer is suing the prison service after he was attacked in Wakefield jail.

According to the Daily Mirror Levi Bellfield is said to want £30,000 in compensation following an attack outside a bathroom.

The attack is reported to have taken place last year, before his trial for murdering 13-year-old Milly.

Bellfield was jailed for life in June after being convicted of abducting and murdering the schoolgirl in March 2002.

In 2008, Bellfield, a former wheelclamper and bouncer, was given a whole life term for murdering Marsha McDonnell, 19, in 2003 and murdering Amelie Delagrange, 22, and attempting to murder Kate Sheedy, 18, in 2004.

The newspaper quotes a source as saying Bellfield, 43, wants to use the compensation for the 'pretty tame' attack to buy a caravan.

Bellfield reportedly claims he should not have been placed within the prison's main population because his murders make him a target and is said to believe he can successfully appeal against his convictions.

A Prison Service spokesman said:

'We have paid no compensation to this man. The vast majority of prisoners' compensation claims are dismissed at an early stage.

'All claims are robustly defended and would only be settled on the basis of strong legal advice, and in order to seek the best value for the taxpayer.'

The compensation claim is likely to distress the Dowler family, who criticised the trial as a 'truly awful experience' in which they felt they were 'on trial as much as Mr Bellfield'.