Ian Huntley seriously injured in prison attack
ian huntley, the Soham double murderer serving a life sentence, has been seriously injured after an assault at HMP Frankland in County Durham. Prison and emergency services responded on Thursday morning and a police investigation is under way.
Attack at HMP Frankland
Prison staff say the assault took place in a prison workshop before the injured inmate was discovered later in his cell at around 9am. A call was logged at 9. 23am on Thursday 26 February 2026, and ambulance crews were dispatched; support from the Great North air ambulance service was requested but the injured prisoner was taken to hospital by road.
Injuries and hospital response
Prison medical staff treated the 52-year-old before he was moved to hospital with serious head injuries. One report said he had been beaten with a metal pole and another account said he had been knocked unconscious with a metal pole; one account further described his condition as "touch and go. " A spokesperson for the local ambulance service confirmed crews were sent to HM Prison Frankland, that support from an air ambulance was requested, and that one patient was transported to hospital by road.
Police investigation under way
Durham Constabulary said: "Police were alerted to an assault which had taken place within HMP Frankland in Durham this morning. " The force added that "a male prisoner suffered serious injuries during the incident and was transported to hospital. " Officers have opened an investigation and detectives are liaising with prison staff. A male prisoner in his mid-40s is suspected of carrying out the attack and is currently "in detention" but had not been arrested "at this stage. "
Ian Huntley and the Soham murders
ian huntley, originally from Grimsby, is serving a life sentence for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. The girls went missing in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August 2002 and their deaths shocked the country. Huntley enticed both schoolgirls into his home, killed them and dumped their bodies in a ditch some 12 miles away. Two weeks after they disappeared, their bodies were found in a ditch near an air base in Lakenheath, Suffolk; other accounts note the girls were missing for 13 days during a very large police search.
Huntley, who was a caretaker at Soham Village College, became a suspect after giving detailed interviews about Holly and Jessica and after an agitated demeanour that raised suspicions. Investigators found charred pieces of the Manchester United shirts the girls had been wearing at his workplace and other evidence that led to his arrest and charge. At trial at the Old Bailey, prosecutor Richard Latham QC described him as "ruthless" and said Huntley's account of both deaths were "desperate lies. " In his evidence, Huntley claimed Holly died accidentally after falling into his bath when he was helping her with a nosebleed. Huntley's then partner, Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant known to the girls, initially gave him an alibi; Carr later served half of a 42-month sentence for perverting the course of justice.
Violence and past incidents at Frankland
HMP Frankland is a high-security, category A prison in County Durham that holds a number of notorious offenders and around 800 inmates, many of whom will never be released. Violent attacks at the prison have been recorded previously. In April last year, three prison officers were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries including burns and stab wounds after being allegedly attacked with hot cooking oil and homemade weapons by Hashem Abedi, who is the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi. Current and former inmates held at Frankland have included Levi Bellfield, Wayne Couzens and Michael Adebolajo, and the prison has a long history of housing highly dangerous prisoners; former inmates have recounted severe violence and unrest inside the jail.
Former inmate recollections
Ricky Killeen, a former inmate who arrived at Frankland aged 21 and was held for his role in a machete attack, has described the prison in stark terms. He recalled seeing an inscription in reception reading "WELCOME TO HELL" and recounted witnessing extreme violence, including what he described as a terrorist having hot oil tipped over his head, prisoners stabbed in the neck, and one prisoner having a coffee jar full of chilli powder rammed in his neck. Killeen said the VP wing, which holds paedophiles and notorious killers, was often the scene of the worst violence and cited other notorious names who have been held at the jail.
The assault at HMP Frankland has left investigators working with prison authorities to establish the full sequence of events that led to the serious injuries, and the injured prisoner remains in hospital receiving treatment.
