Two prisoners who butchered another inmate, stabbing him about 190 times, have been jailed for life.

One of them, Jason Gomez, was already serving life for murder and will now never be released after a judge imposed a “whole life” sentence.

Paul Wadkin, who was serving an indeterminate sentence for wounding, will be behind bars for a minimum of 30 years before he will be considered for release.

The evil pair both laughed after sentence was passed and jeered at police officers sitting in the public gallery as they were taken to the cells. Gomez gave them a V sign.

Judge Philip Statman said: “The pathologist said some of the stab wounds had a severe amount of force behind them. It would seem it was a frenzied attack.

“Imagine what the situation was in the cell, the length of time it must have taken for 190 wounds to be inflicted. It seems to me this was a case of viciousness.”

He said of Mr Flynn: “He was incapacitated by both of you and subjected to what I consider to be a savage, brutal and frenzied attack.”

The pair launched the attack on disabled Darren Flynn at HMP Swaleside earlier this year. Gomez afterwards declared the victim was “a grassing nonce”.

Wadkin, who was serving an indeterminate sentence for wounding, denied murder but was unanimously convicted on Thursday by a jury of seven men and five women.

Gomez admitted the charge shortly before the trial started.

Maidstone Crown Court heard many of the wounds were to the 46­-year-­old victim’s chest and neck and had been inflicted with severe force by two differently­ shaped implements.

The prosecution said Mr Flynn, who walked with a crutch, was held down during the attack.

Prosecutor Philip Bennetts QC said the body was found in bed in Wadkin’s cell covered with bedding and a chair.

The discovery was made after Wadkin, 33, of no fixed address, calmly told a prison officer there was a body in his cell.

Gomez, 45, of no fixed address, calmly told the same story. The three then went to the cell on F wing at the category B prison in Eastchurch.

"They are never going to let me go anyway. Nonces should all be dead. They don’t deserve a life sentence. I have done 15 years. It can’t get any worse" - Jason Gomez

Mr Bennetts said a week before the attack Gomez was playing pool when he saw Mr Flynn, who mimicked his limp and said: “Dead man walking. He’s a grass.”

He also showed another inmate a “knife type object” and asked: “Do you think that will go through somebody?”

On March 25, after the body was found, Gomez and Wadkin both confessed: “We have just killed someone. Asked who killed him, they replied: “Both of us.”

“Mr Gomez said both he and Mr Wadkin had stabbed up Mr Flynn because he was a grassing nonce,” said Mr Bennetts.

Asked if he did not want to get out of jail, Gomez said: “They are never going to let me go anyway. Nonces should all be dead. They don’t deserve a life sentence.”

He added: “I have done 15 years. It can’t get any worse.”

Wadkin told an officer he had “just murdered a pervert”.

But Mr Bennetts said Mr Flynn had never been convicted of any sex offences. He was serving a sentence for wounding with intent.

Two weapons retrieved from a prison landing bin did not have any forensic link to either Gomez or Wadkin.

The victim’s blood was, however, found on Wadkin’s clothes.

The most significant wounds were multiple punctures to both lungs, as well as damage to the heart and aorta artery.

Wadkin claimed in evidence he had found the body in his bed. He made the discovery, he said, after Gomez confessed to “having a madness” in his cell.

Mr Bennetts said Gomez had eight convictions dating back to 1991. He was sentenced to life in 2001 at Worcester Crown Court for murdering his partner in a window cleaning business.

Although the minimum term set was 11 years, Gomez had served 15 years.

Wadkin had amassed 22 convictions for 114 offences.

His first jail sentence was in 1987. In 2003, he was jailed for three years for a robbery in which he threatened his victim with a screwdriver.

He was sentenced to five years for another robbery in 2005. He was released to a bail hostel in Leeds in 2009 but was recalled to prison five days later.

"He was incapacitated by both of you and subjected to what I consider to be a savage, brutal and frenzied attack" - Judge Philip Statman

Wadkin was released in November 2010 but recalled 19 days later. But he could not be found and in the meantime he stabbed an Asian taxi driver in the neck.

Using racist language, he admitted he put extra pressure on the knife to make sure the victim “didn’t wake up”.

Wadkin was in January 2011 given an indeterminate sentence at Leeds Crown Court with a minimum term of four years for the wounding with intent offence - the term he was serving at the time of the killing.

Stephen Vullo QC, for Gomez, submitted a whole life sentence should not be imposed.

“The minimum term of 25 years would be the correct starting point,” he said. “If that were passed he would be in his 70s before eligible for parole.

“He is likely to die in prison if given the minimum term, or just be released before the end of his life. In the real world it may make no difference.”

Mr Vullo told the judge: “His guilty plea must count for something. I ask you to take that small step back.”

Detective Sergeant Fiona Mattholie said: "The brutality and violence used in this attack was almost indescribable.

"Gomez and Wadkin stabbed their victim 190 times and then openly bragged to prison officers that they were responsible.

"It was a carefully planned attack with one intention, to commit murder. Their motive was based on the mistaken belief that the victim was a sex offender and ‘a grass’, of which there is absolutely no evidence of either.

"Neither of these men has showed any remorse for their horrific actions and instead they smiled and laughed in court as the judge was passing sentence.

"Gomez will never be considered for release and if Wadkin does one day get parole, after serving a minimum of 30 years, he will still remain on licence for the rest of his life.'

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