Police share Ian Huntley well being replace every week on from brutal jail workshop assault
Ian Huntley was left fighting for his life last week after he was brutally attacked by a fellow inmate in a prison workshop – since then, medics are said to have ‘worked miracles’ to keep him alive
Ian Huntley was attacked in jail(Image: PA)
Police have given an update after child killer Ian Huntley was battered by a fellow prisoner wielding a metal pole during a vicious prison workshop assault.
The 52-year-old was rushed to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle last Thursday after the attack at HMP Frankland. Sources revealed how doctors “worked miracles” to save Huntley after prison officers initially believed he had died when they discovered him sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood.
The prisoner who allegedly launched the assault, triple murderer Anthony Russell, is reported to have declared “I’ve killed him” as he was escorted away.
Huntley was given merely a 5% chance of survival after reportedly being struck repeatedly and left with serious head injuries. Emergency crews rushed to the Category A jail at approximately 9am on February 26 before he was put into an induced coma and transported to hospital.
In a condition update, police confirmed Huntley remains fighting for his life. A Durham Constabulary spokesperson said on Thursday: “There has been no change in the 52-year-old man’s condition overnight – he remains in hospital in a serious condition.”
Last week, a source described how it was “extraordinary” that the killer was still breathing as he was left “totally unresponsive and could not breathe” immediately following the attack. “It is miraculous he is still alive,” the insider told The Sun.
“Medics have worked miracles on him and he has clung on. The prison nurses and staff who first saw him thought he was gone.
“And medics said there was only a five per cent chance of survival after an attack like that. It is still touch and go, and he could get worse. But it is extraordinary that he is still alive. When it first happened, he was totally unresponsive and could not breathe.”
Russell is understood to have battered the child killer with a three-foot spiked metal pole, battering him at least six times and inflicting severe head wounds.
The depraved triple murderer was charged with killing Julie Williams and her son David Williams, plus the vicious rape and murder of expectant mother Nicole McGregor near Leamington Spa in 2020. He received a whole-life tariff in 2022.
Huntley is serving life after being found guilty of slaying schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002. He won’t be considered for parole until at least 2042.
Officers confirmed a male inmate in his mid-40s had been identified as a suspect in the investigation into the assault. A Durham Constabulary spokesperson said last week: “The 52-year-old prisoner who was injured during this morning’s assault in the workshop at HMP Frankland remains in a serious condition in hospital following treatment for head injuries.
“Police forensic teams have examined the scene of the attack throughout the day to gather evidence. A suspect, a male prisoner in his mid-40s, has been identified by officers investigating the incident. He has not been arrested at this stage but remains in detention within the prison.”
