Ian Huntley’s funeral prices spark fury as 1000’s name for block on public funding
Soham child murderer, Ian Huntley died following an attack at HMP Frankland with his funeral and planned prison memorial service set to be funded by the taxpayer
Ian Huntley(Image: Toby Melville/PA Wire)
More than 40,000 people have backed a petition demanding the blocking of public funding for child killer Ian Huntley’s funeral. Within 48 hours of being published, the petition crossed the threshold, after the Soham murderer died over a week after being attacked at HMP Frankland.
An established Ministry of Justice programme mandates the prison service provide up to £3,000 of taxpayer funds for any inmate who dies whilst in custody, alongside a memorial service arranged through prison chaplaincy, reports Chronicle Live.
The petition was started by Carly Batley, 47, from Kent, on Sunday, and it demands the Ministry of Justice waives the £3,000 funeral contribution, and cancels any planned prison memorial service.
It also calls for a review on whether death-in-custody provisions should automatically apply to those convicted of the most serious crimes against children.
Explaining why she started the petition, Carly said: “There were so many missed opportunities with Huntley. He should never ever have been allowed anywhere near children. The system failed Holly and Jessica and their families, and they deserve better now.”
Huntley killed 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002, and he received a minimum 40-year sentence which he was half way through before his death following an attack at the County Durham jail nicknamed Monster Mansion.
His own daughter, Samantha Bryan, 27, who only found out Huntley was her father whilst doing a school project at the age of 14, stated: “He shouldn’t have the dignity of a funeral and grave. I will not be going. A funeral is pointless for a man like him.”
She said his ashes should be “flushed down the toilet.”
Former prison governor and criminal justice expert Ian Acheson, clarified that Justice Secretary David Lammy has the power to overrule this policy, telling The Times: “If there’s anything that says it’s mandatory for him to have a memorial service, that must and can be overridden by the secretary of state.”
