Paedophile Russell Bishop today was said to be under armed guard in hospital while he waits for a heart operation.

The 36-year-old former Brighton roofer was jailed for life in 1990 for kidnapping and trying to murder a seven-year-old Brighton girl and indecently assaulting her at Devil's Dyke.

Currently a prisoner at Full Sutton maximum security jail in York, he is expected to undergo heart bypass surgery.

A full security operation, including armed officers, was said to be in place at York District Hospital.

Bishop was handcuffed to his hospital bed with two police officers standing guard.

Four years before his conviction Bishop was cleared of sexually assaulting and murdering nine-year-old playmates Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in Wild Park, Moulsecoomb, Brighton.

There are claims Bishop has jumped an NHS queue and today Michelle Johnson, Karen Hadaway's mother, said there would be uproar if it was true, adding: "He should stay bottom of the heap.

"These monsters think nothing about abducting kids - they don't deserve any consideration. He should have to pay for any medical treatment he gets."