Soham child killer Ian Huntley has died after allegedly being attacked by a fellow inmate during a prison workshop at HMP Frankland which left him in a pool of blood
Soham child murderer Ian Huntley has died after being ambushed by a prisoner with a spiked metal pole. Huntley was left lying unconscious in a pool of blood after being bludgeoned by another prisoner during a workshop.
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. Today, the BBC reported he has died.
On March 6 – a week on from the attack – his life support machine was turned off. 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.”
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.
Huntley was assaulted at HMP Frankland in County Durham before being taken to hospital where he was put into an induced coma with sources claiming he had been left blinded and had a 5% chance of survival.
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.
Russell was sentenced to a whole-life tariff in 2021 for the murders of Julie Williams, 58, and her son David Williams, 32, at separate flats in Coventry, and pregnant 31-year-old Nicole McGregor, who was found in woodland near Leamington Spa three days later.
Russell also raped Ms McGregor.
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.”
A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary stated at the time of the incident: “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.”
The Sun, which initially disclosed the assault, reported Huntley was rendered unconscious by a metal pole with a spike and cited a source claiming his condition was “touch and go” after his “head was split in two.”
A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed: “We dispatched two ambulance crews to the scene and requested support from the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
“One patient was transported to hospital by road.”
It’s not the first time Huntley faced violence at Frankland prison. Wielding a makeshift weapon, robber Damien Fowkes slashed him in 2010, inflicting a “severe gaping cut to the left side of his neck”. The injury measured 7in (18cm) in length and necessitated 21 stitches.
Fowkes enquired of a prison officer: “Is he dead? I hope so.” He branded Huntley as a “notorious child killer, both inside prison and in society in general”.
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.
The judge, Mr Justice Moses, told Huntley: “You are the only person who knows how you murdered them.”
He said: “Ian Kevin Huntley on the 4th of August 2002 you enticed two 10-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, into your house.
“They were happy, intelligent and loyal. They were much loved by their families and all who knew them. You murdered them both. You are the one person who knows how you murdered them, you are the one person who knows why.
“You destroyed the evidence, which showed no mercy and no regret. Once you killed one of them, you had to kill the other in an attempt to avoid detection.
“On the 10th of August, six days later, you told the BBC that you were the last friendly face these two girls had to speak to. That was a lie which served to underline the persistent cruelty of your actions.”
The girls’ bodies had been found in a ditch near an airbase at Mildenhall in Suffolk after a two-week search.
Huntley’s girlfriend, Maxine Carr, who was a teaching assistant at the girls’ school, served 21 months for perverting the course of justice for giving Huntley a false alibi.
She is now living under a new identity.
The case prompted an inquiry into how Huntley slipped through police vetting procedures despite a string of sex allegations made against him in his hometown, Grimsby, in the late 1990s.
The report from the inquiry revealed a “deeply shocking” catalogue of errors across all organisations that had contact with Huntley before he murdered Holly and Jessica.
It made 31 recommendations to improve intelligence sharing, police information systems and employment vetting nationwide.
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