An armed robber whose ear was sliced off in a jail attack has woken from a coma to life-changing injuries.
Dale Thomas, 28, was ambushed in his cell at Edinburgh prison last week and brutally attacked.
Officers rushed to his aid after hearing his screams and found him with several stab wounds to his neck and his ear cut off.
The thug, who is near the end of a four-year stretch for a series of raids on bookies in the capital in 2015, is well enough to return to jail and will continue treatment inside.
It’s understood his ear could not be re-attached.
A source said: “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.”
Police said: “Inquiries are ongoing and officers are following a positive line of inquiry.”
