by Joe Walker

Vicious killer Mark Elliott has boasted about his easy life behind bars on Facebook.

The 22-year-old (pictured right) was jailed for life last year for his part in the violent murder of Whitstable builder Mark Witherall.

He and two thugs savagely attacked the father-of-three “like a pack of hyenas” after he caught them burgling his house in King Edward Street in January 2007.

The 47-year-old suffered massive internal injuries and died in hospital five weeks after the drink and drug-fuelled attack.

But unremorseful Elliott, who is serving a minimum sentence of 23 years, has managed to get hold of a mobile phone in prison and used it to post messages on the social network site.

Writing under his street name Hackman Hack, he describes how he spends his days working out in the gym and playing computer games, telling friends they would love prison.

He wrote: “U would love jail u could play ya computer all day long.”

In another message he said: “Jus been gym, feel kinda hench.”

The heartless killer even posted pictures of himself in his cell at HMP Swaleside in Sheerness, taken on a camera phone, which is banned under prison regulations.

The frequent updates have disgusted Mr Witherall’s family.

His widow Michelle, mum to two of his children, Mark, 10, and Lucy, 12, said it made a mockery of the justice system.

She said: “Going to prison is meant to be a punishment, but it sounds more like a holiday camp.

“The police worked so hard and did a fantastic job to secure convictions, but for what? So he could sit around all day, playing computer, eating food and going to the gym.

“I have to go out to work everyday to support my kids. If they want a computer game I have to work to pay for it. I have to work to put a roof over their head and food on the table.

“But this monster gets it handed to him on a plate. It makes me sick.”

Prison Service spokesman Lauren Starr said: “Prisoners cannot personally contribute to websites. They are not allowed to access the internet, except in exceptional circumstances and under strict supervision.

“We are unable to prevent third parties from publishing information on other people’s behalf.

“We have a range of new technology to bolster prisons’ ability to find mobile phones and SIM cards, including body scanning chairs.

“In addition, the government has strengthened the law around this, meaning that someone convicted of bringing in a mobile phone or its components to a prison now faces up to two years in jail.”

Read the full interview with Michelle Witherall in this week's Whitstable Gazette, out Thursday.