Murderer Vickrum Digwa is being held in segregation after refusing to move onto a prison wing where he fears he could be killed following the fatal attack on child killer Ian Huntley.

The 23-year-old is understood to be spending up to 23 hours a day alone in his cell at HMP Frankland in County Durham, only leaving under close escort by four prison officers for daily exercise.

Digwa, who stabbed 18-year-old Henry Nowak to death in Southampton and falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack as the teenager lay dying, has lost access to normal prison privileges, including television.

A source said he refused to be moved onto A-wing after learning it was the same wing where Ian Huntley had been fatally attacked earlier this year.

The source said: “He is there because he is terrified and refused to locate to a wing.

“He was told he was going on to A-wing and he knew it was where Huntley was killed — and said ‘No’.

“He said he could not be kept safely on there, which is accurate as there is already talk about him around the prison.

“They cannot make him go on to the wing and he could be in ‘seg’ for a very long time.”

The source told the The Sun, which made the report, conditions on the segregation unit as extremely harsh.

They said: “It is really grim. Inmates are given a really small wind-up radio and you can read books and that’s about it.

“You get taken out for an hour at the same time as three other cons but, even then, the exercise yard is split into four and you cannot mix.

“And he has to have all the prison-issue food in his cell, which is pretty grim.

“Most inmates on seg end up pacing around their cell or shouting out of the window.

“It is the sort of regime that will drive you mad.”

Digwa was jailed for life in May with a minimum term of 21 years after being convicted of murdering Henry Nowak in December 2025, a sentence which is currently being appealed against on the grounds it is unduly lenient.

He was previously held at HMP Winchester before being transferred to Frankland, known as “Monster Mansion” due to the number of high-profile and dangerous inmates housed there.

The prison has also held some of Britain’s most notorious offenders, including Ian Huntley, who was fatally attacked at the jail earlier this year.

Frankland has also been the scene of other serious incidents in recent years, including an attack on staff by Manchester Arena terrorist Hashem Abedi and violence involving quadruple killer Damien Bendall.

A Prison Service spokesperson said it cannot comment on individual prisoners.