The man accused of killing nine-year-old Lilia Valutyte has reportedly been stabbed in prison. Deividas Skebas, 22, was allegedly attacked with a makeshift "shank" after being set upon by a group of inmates at HMP Wakefield.
He was airlifted to hospital following the assault. The Lithuanian fruit picker stands accused of murdering little Lilia as she played outside a cafe with her sister in Boston, Lincolnshire, last month.
He was arrested by police and remanded in custody, with the alleged killer currently being held in HMP Wakefield. According to the Mirror, a Prison Service spokesperson stated: "A prisoner at HMP Wakefield was treated in hospital for injuries following an assault by another prisoner. We are unable to comment further while police investigate."
Skebas was discharged from hospital the day after he was attacked. According to The Sun, another inmate attacked him with a makeshift "shank".
A source told the newspaper: "Skebas was beaten to a pulp and also slashed with a makeshift shank weapon - likely a razor blade in a toothbrush. People have been plotting against him for a while and on Sunday they got their chance, with a few running into his cell and ambushing him.
“There was one bloke who meted out the beating, aided by a couple of others who joined in and kept watch."
The source added that Skebas had a "target on his back" as soon as he arrived in jail. The 22-year-old was "basically left for dead" in his cell following the attack, the source said.
Guards monitored Skebas overnight and he is now set to be moved to another prison, The Sun reports. Lilia's mum Lina Savicke, 35, previously said murder suspect Skebas’s mother Daiva had phoned her to offer full support.
Lina said: “His mother called yesterday. I heard that he comes from a very good family. She promised to take care of everything that she is able to.”
Lina said her family are now raising money for a sculpture that she wants placed near the spot where Lilia died. It is understood plans are already being made for the sculpture to resemble an angel.
Speaking about her conversation with Skebas’s mum, who is understood to own a flower shop in Lithuania, Lina told her native country’s Delfi Plus news agency: “I told her that we would collect donations for a sculpture dedicated to Lilia’s memory. But she stated that she did not have the money for such a thing.”
Lina was at work in a recruitment office just yards from where Lilia was killed while playing outside with a hula-hoop alongside her five-year-old sister on July 28.
An inquest ruled she died from a stab wound.
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