Disgraced tycoon Jeffrey Epstein is in hospital after being found semi-conscious with neck injuries in his New York prison cell.
Witnesses told US entertainment news site RadarOnline that the 66-year-old financier - who is awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls - was “sprawled on the floor” and “blue in the face”, with marks to his neck.
The London Evening Standard reports that screams had been heard “and prison staff were seen rushing through the corridors” during the drama at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Wednesday. Sources quoted by NBC New York say that authorities have ruled out neither a suicide attempt nor an assault.
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Two sources told NBC News 4 that Epstein may have tried to hang himself, but another claimed that his injuries were not serious and suggested that Epstein might have staged the incident in a bid to get a transfer.
A fourth source said that officials have not ruled out the chance that the self-proclaimed billionaire was assaulted. His cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione, a former police officer charged with four counts of murder, has been questioned but insists he has no idea what happened.
CNBC reports that Epstein has now been put on suicide watch.
The businessman was arrested earlier this month over claims that he paid girls under the age of 18 to perform sex acts at his Manhattan and Florida mansions between 2002 and 2005. If convicted, he faces up to 45 years in prison.
Epstein was due to appear in court today to appeal a decision denying him bail. He had asked to be allowed to remain under house arrest in his $77m (£62m) Manhattan mansion, but his application was rejected last week by a judge who said he posed a danger to the public and represented a serious flight risk.
Investigators had found $70,000 (£56,000) in cash, 48 diamonds and a passport with a photo of Epstein but a different name stowed away at his home, on the Upper East Side.
The judge also noted that Epstein had in recent months made large payments to potential witnesses against him, and said that the discovery by FBI agents of a trove of lewd photographs of young women at his Manhattan townhouse suggested he poses “ongoing and forward-looking danger”.
The case has received widespread media attention, largely owing to Epstein’s past connections with a host of high-profile figures including President Donald Trump, former US leader Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.
Trump once called Epstein a “terrific guy”, and while he has since tried to distance himself from the financier, their relationship is back in the spotlight after footage recently emerged showing the two men laughing together in 1992 at a party packed with cheerleaders.
Earlier this month, US Labour Secretary Alex Acosta resigned over his role in agreeing a secret plea deal in 2008 that saw Epstein avoid similar sex trafficking charges and instead pleading guilty to lesser misdemeanours.
