Police replace as Ian Huntley dies week after metallic spike assault at Monster Mansion
Soham child killer Ian Huntley’s life support machine was turned off a week after he was bludgeoned with a metal spike by a fellow inmate at Category A prison, HMP Franklin
Ian Huntley was attacked in jail(Image: PA)
Police have released a statment after the death of child killer Ian Huntley. The Soham murderer died a week after being ambushed by a prisoner with a spiked metal pole.
On March 6, his life support machine was turned off. Huntley was serving a life sentence after being convicted of murdering two 10-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who disappeared from a family barbecue in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “A man who was attacked at HMP Frankland in Durham last week has died in hospital this morning (March 7).
“Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries following an incident in the workshop on the morning of Thursday, February 26.
“A police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing. A file is being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration for charges.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our thoughts are with their families.”
The 52-year-old was rushed to hospital following the attack on February 26, which triggered scenes of ‘absolute chaos’ at HMP Frankland, County Durham, nicknamed Monster Mansion.
His mum Lynda, 71 — the sole relative to visit him in hospital — was with him as his pitiful life slipped away after brain tests showed he was in a vegetative state.
A source told the Sun: “No one who has dealt with him is shedding a tear. Even his mother has accepted that this is for the best, having seen him and knowing what a state he is in. He never really recovered from the beating he took, and never stood much of a chance of doing so.
“Huntley had been attacked loads of times in prison so the day he was killed was always likely to arrive.”
A prisoner in his mid-40s was identified as a suspect in the attack and remains in detention within HMP Frankland, Durham Constabulary said. Sources claim the suspect is triple killer, Anthony Russell.
Russell is believed to have struck Huntley at least 15 times and screamed out: “I’ve done it! I’ve done it! I’ve killed him! I’ve killed him!” as officials closed in around him, according to the Sun.
Sources said everyone thought Huntley died immediately and admitted staff and inmates were shocked to discover he was still alive days later.
During his time in hospital, Huntley’s only daughter Samantha Bryan, 27, told The Sun on Sunday: “There’s a special place in hell waiting for him.”
One woman visiting a prisoner housed alongside Huntley in the segregated wing told the Sun that the child murderer appeared to have been “ripped apart like a rat”. She added: “He’s in a bad, bad way. I shouldn’t say it, but it’s what he deserves.”
Prior to his transfer to HMP Frankland, he was housed at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire and was doused with boiling water by North Yorkshire serial killer Mark Hobson.
The former school caretaker killed Holly and Jessica after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire. He claimed during his trial at the Old Bailey in 2003 that the girls, wearing their Manchester United shirts, went inside his house because Holly had a nosebleed.
Huntley said in his testimony that Holly drowned in the bath and that he killed Jessica as he tried to silence her screams, but jurors concluded he was lying.
