Prisoner admits slashing serial rapist and murderer Peter Tobin in the throat and face

Peter Tobin has boasted that he murdered 48 people

Peter Tobin will remain permanently scarred after the prison attack (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A prisoner has admitted slashing serial killer Peter Tobin with a razor blade in prison, saying that Tobin had been getting on his nerves for months "with his attitude towards his offences."

Sean Moynihan, 31, admitted slashing 69-year-old Tobin on the head and body in July, when they were both prisoners at HM Prison Edinburgh.

Tobin was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for the rape and murder of 23-year-old Polish student Angelika Kluk in Glasgow, having previously served 10 years in prison for the rape of two 14-year-old girls in 1993.

Tobin's minimum sentence was increased to 30 years after he was convicted for the 1991 abduction and murder of 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton in Falkirk.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that Moynihan, now a prisoner at HMP Glenochil, admitted to prison officers that he "slashed Tobin across the throat and face."

When interviewed after the slashing, Moynihan said: "Tobin has been annoying me for for months with his attitude towards his offences and his refusal to tell anyone where the rest of his victim's bodies are."

Tobin was taken to nearby St John's Hospital in Livingstone, where he was treated for a 20cm (7.8 inch) gash running down the right side of his face and onto his throat.

Sherriff Nigel Ross was told that the killer, who according to BBC News has boasted that he has killed 48 people, would be permanently scarred.

Moynihan will be sentenced for his attack on Tobin next month.