A PRISONER has admitted killing a fellow inmate at a prison near York, and trying to kill Soham murderer Ian Huntley.

Damien Fowkes, 35, pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court today to the manslaughter of child killer Colin Hatch, who was strangled at Full Sutton Prison in East Yorkshire in February this year.

Fowkes, from Northampton, also admitted slashing Huntley's throat in Frankland Prison, Durham, in March last year.

He had initially been charged with murdering Hatch, but his plea of guilty to manslaughter was accepted on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Fowkes appeared in the sealed dock at court surrounded by five prison officers, wearing a grey sweatshirt and a black hat.

He has a large scar down the left side of his face and a tattoo down the right. An application for him to come into court in handcuffs was rejected by the judge.

The prisoner spoke to confirm his name and enter his pleas. He denied murdering Hatch but admitted manslaughter.

Graham Reeds, prosecuting, said this plea was acceptable.

The court heard Fowkes showed "strong psychopathic traits".

The court heard Fowkes attacked Huntley on the healthcare wing at Frankland, where the Soham killer had been working.

Using a home-made weapon, he slashed Huntley, causing a "severe gaping cut to the left side of his neck".

The judge was told the wound was 7in (18cm) long and required 21 stitches.

Mr Reeds said: "It was good fortune that it missed all the vital structures in the neck."

He said Fowkes asked a prison officer: "Is he dead? I hope so."

When he asked if he had killed Huntley and was told he had not, Fowkes said: "I wish I had."

Mr Reeds said the weapon used was fashioned “from a razor that was melted on to the handle of a knife or some other plastic utensil".

He described Huntley as a "notorious child killer, both inside prison and in society in general" and said Fowkes had expressed a particular hatred for child killers.