An armed robber has had his ear sliced off in a violent ambush behind bars.
Dale Thomas, 28, has awoken from a coma after he was ambushed in his cell at Edinburgh prison last week.
Officers rushed to his aid after hearing his screams and found him with several stab wounds to his neck and his ear cut off.
Thomas, who is nearing the end of a four-year stretch for a series of raids on bookies in Edinburgh in 2015, will return to prison and continue his treatment inside.
A source told the Daily Record : “He’s awake and still very ill. He’ll have a hard road ahead with life-changing injuries.
“Some say it’s been over drugs or his association with certain people that caused him to be attacked. There are likely to be repercussions for this.”
The source said he fell foul of a gang inside the prison and was “punished” over a disagreement, adding: “The screams could be heard around the hall. They were blood-curdling.
“He had half a dozen stab wounds in his neck from a shank and they’d sliced his ear off with a razor blade.”
The inmate's ear could not be reattached.
Police said: “Inquiries are ongoing and officers are following a positive line of inquiry.”
