Paige Doherty murderer John Leathem battered in jail by vile rapist who targeted vulnerable women
Deli murderer was beaten black and blue in a prison dining hall as he tucked into his dinner, a jail report revealed
KILLER John Leathem was battered by a rapist two days after switching jails over fears lags were plotting his murder.
Leathem, 32, who was caged for slaying 15-year-old Paige Doherty suffered face wounds after being pounded by James Gellately.
Two guards leapt in and dragged raging Gellately away.
The beast, 29, was sent to solitary and later transferred to another nick.
An insider revealed the .
They said: “When Leathem came down to Dumfries in November he was put into the general population.
“Things were said about him and his offence in the company of other prisoners, including Gellately.
“Word got back to Leathem who then approached Gellately and words were exchanged. Gellately said to him he wasn’t some little girl he could terrorise and Leathem said he didn’t know what he was talking about — that’s what lit the fuse.
“Gellately then assaulted him and left him with nasty bruising to the side of his face.
“It was dealt with within the prison system and 48 hours after the attack Gellately was transferred to Barlinnie.”
The source added: “Gellately’s a volatile character and Leathem goes about the place like he’s done nothing wrong.
“Every time he reads something in the paper about his crime he hides behind his door like a recluse because he’s too scared to come out.”
He inflicted more than 140 knife injuries on the defenceless teen before dumping her body at the side of a road last March. In December, the shameless fiend launched an appeal to cut his 27-year sentence.
Gellately was caged for ten years in 2015 after he was found guilty of a string of attacks, including four rapes and an indecent assault.
His victims were targeted in Dumfriesshire, East Kilbride and Kilmarnock from 2006 to 2013.
In November he admitted fighting wardens as they tried to stop him slashing his wrists.
He got six months to run alongside his ten-year term.
The Scottish Prison Service said last night: “We cannot comment on individual prisoners.”
graham.mann@the-sun.co.uk
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