Dad jailed for attacking kids with hammer and crashing car 'moved cells as inmates are trying to kill him'

A dad who was jailed for life for trying to murder four children by attacking them with a hammer and smashing into a wall, has been forced into prison isolation because inmates are repeatedly trying to kill him.

Owen Scott was jailed for a minimum of 14 years earlier this week, after a court heard he attacked his three young children and step-daughter with a hammer.

The 29-year-old, during a cocaine-induced psychotic episode, took them from his ex's home in Southampton and then drove them into a wall at 92mph near Penistone, South Yorks.

Scott admitted four counts of attempted murder and dangerous driving when the court heard the four children, aged nine months to eight years, suffered "catastrophic" injuries.

Sheffield Crown Court heard Scott, of Heather Road, Fawley, Hampshire, drove for three days before crashing into the Travellers Inn.

Scott's seven-year-old daughter lost a large part of her skull, which left her partially paralysed and needing to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

But before he was handed his life sentence, and while he waited for his trial in prison, he was reportedly attacked repeatedly by fellow inmates because of the heinous nature of his crimes.

A source close to the family said, according to the Mirror Online: "Owen has been attacked a few times. They had to put him in segregation at one point because they were worried he might not survive long enough to go to trial.

"I almost feel sorry for him then remember what he did. He now has to live the rest of his life in prison with a target on his back."

The children were aged seven, 21 months and nine months, and his stepdaughter was eight at the time of the crash.

The 21-month-old still has a hole in his skull which will require further surgery. The court was told that Scott was uninjured in the crash.

Scott, who had broken up with his former partner, had developed paranoia, put down to a temporary psychosis caused by cocaine and cannabis use, in the weeks before the incident, the court heard.

Prosecutors said that the defendant became convinced he was being chased by a gang who meant to harm him and his children.

He travelled all around the UK from the Isle of Wight to Liverpool before he crashed in South Yorkshire, reported BBC News.

Scott escaped the car, making "no attempt to comfort or assist" the children and the injuries they suffered, including blows to the head, were consistent with a hammer found in Scott's car, the court was told.