A CONVICTED murderer has been found dead in his prison cell.

Simon Hall, 36, killed pensioner Joan Albert, 79, in her Capel St Mary home by stabbing her five times in 2001.

He was jailed for life in 2003 and had been serving his sentence in Wayland Prison in Norfolk.

But staff at the prison found the killer unconscious in his cell early this morning and he was soon pronounced dead by paramedics.

A Prison Service spokesman said: "HMP Wayland prisoner Simon Hall was found unresponsive in his cell by prison staff at approximately 05:25am.

"Paramedics attended but he was pronounced dead at 05:49am.

"As with all deaths in custody, the Independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation."

Hall went to East Bergholt High School and worked for a company in East Hill, Colchester, when he was arrested.

He spent a decade claiming his innocence, launching several appeals against his conviction.

But Hall finally admitted his guilt in prison last year, when his case was closed.