Richard Huckle dead: 'Gap year' paedophile who sexually abused 200 children 'stabbed to death in prison'

One of Britain's most prolific paedophiles, who abused up to 200 children, has reportedly been stabbed to death in prison.

Richard Huckle, 33, known as the "gap year paedophile" is understood to have been murdered at HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire yesterday.

Sources said he was knifed with a makeshift blade and found dead in his cell.

A Prison Service spokesman confirmed Huckle's death but said he could not comment further while a police investigation is ongoing.

Humberside Police said it was treating the death as "suspicious".

The freelance photographer, from Ashford in Kent, was jailed for a minimum of 25 years in 2016 after he was found to have abused up to 200 children.

He was given 22 life sentences after admitting 71 charges of sex abuse of children aged between six months and 12 years, between 2006 and 2014.

He reportedly awarded himself "pedopoints" for different acts of abuse against youngsters and sold images of his crimes on the Dark Web.

The English tutor used his teaching qualification to gain access to children in an impoverished community in Malaysia where he raped babies, toddlers and children.

In online posts, Huckle bragged that it was easier to target impoverished children in Malaysia than those from wealthy Western backgrounds.

Commenting on one of his victims, he boasted: "I'd hit the jackpot, a 3yo girl as loyal to me as my dog and nobody seemed to care."

At the time of his arrest, he was writing a guide to teach fellow paedophiles how to abuse children and avoid detection.

Huckle was stopped at Gatwick Airport en route to spend Christmas with his family in 2014 after Australian authorities tipped off the UK's National Crime Agency.

Officers seized his laptop and managed to uncover more than 20,000 indecent pictures and videos.

In addition to these were other encrypted files which authorities were unable to crack.

Following his death, a spokeswoman for Humberside Police said: "An investigation has been launched following an incident at HMP Full Sutton on Sunday October 13.

"We were called shortly after 12.30pm reporting that a man had died at the prison.

"Humberside Police are working closely with the Prison Service to investigate the death of an inmate and at this time we are treating the death as suspicious."

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “It would be inappropriate to comment further while a police investigation is ongoing.”