Serial killer Levi Bellfield was 'minutes from death' when prison staff found him injured in an apparent suicide attempt, according to reports.
Bellfield has been described as one of the most dangerous serial killers Britain has known.
He is currently in jail for the murders of schoolgirl Milly Dowler, 13, French student Amelie Delagrange, 22, and Marsha McDonnell, 19, who fell prey to the killer in south west London.
Sources have told the Sun he was found badly hurt in his HMP Frankland prison cell on Friday evening.
According to reports, medics were quick to attend to him.
Speaking to The Sun , a source said: "He was minutes from death - if the prison officers hadn’t been on hand so swiftly, he would have died."
The inmate is now reportedly under 24-hour watch at the prison in County Durham.
Milly Dowler was just 13-years-old when she was brutally murdered by Bellfield.
The bubbly schoolgirl, from Weybridge, in Surrey, vanished just minutes after she had phoned her dad to tell him she would be home soon.
Milly had left school as usual at just after 3pm on March 21, 2002, and walked to Weybridge Station with a friend.
The pair got off a stop earlier than Milly's usual station and popped for something to eat at the railway cafe.
She set off to walk home alone and was spotted by a friend of her sister's, who was waiting at a bus stop.
It was the last time anyone would see the schoolgirl alive.
Bellfield is suspected of 20 further attacks dating from 1980.
He is serving life with no parole.
When contacted by the Mirror Online about Friday's incident, the Ministry of Justice said it could not comment on individual prisoners.
