A SENIOR prison officer has been suspended from duty after being accused of sexually abusing convicted child-killer Dominic McKilligan.

The Durham Prison officer was arrested following the allegations, and computer equipment was seized from his house in a village near Durham City.

McKilligan, 20, was jailed for life for the murder of 11-year-old Tyneside schoolboy Wesley Neailey.

A Durham Police spokesman said: "An inmate at Durham Jail has alleged gross indecency against a prison officer.

"As a result of investigations into the allegations, a man has been arrested and questioned.

"During the course of our investigation, computer equipment has been seized."

The officer could not be contacted for comment, but is understood to strenuously deny the allegations.

The inquiry centres on alleged acts of gross indecency McKilligan said he suffered while he was at the prison.

He has now been moved to Wakefield Prison.

The prison officer, a married man, was arrested and questioned over McKilligan's allegations. He was suspended from his job on January 6.

Prison service officials have also launched an internal inquiry, but they refused to comment while the police investigation is ongoing.

A prison service spokeswoman said: "A member of HMP Durham staff has been arrested by police.

"Until the police investigation has been concluded, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further. The man has now been suspended."

McKilligan, described in court as a cold, calculating liar, was jailed for life at Newcastle Crown Court on July 23, 1999, for 11-year-old Wesley's murder.

The youngster, from Arthur's Hill, in Newcastle's West End, was lured to his death by the then teenage Newcastle College music student.

McKilligan had previously been released from Aycliffe Young People's Centre, where he was detained for three years for sexual offences against boys in his home town of Bournemouth.

He befriended and later murdered Wesley in the garage at his rented flat, less than a mile from the boy's home.

Wesley's body was found dumped in a cardboard box, wrapped in a bin liner and covered with rubbish at the roadside near the Northumberland hamlet of Healey