Ian Huntley remains in hospital after frenzied prison ambush

ian huntley, the Soham double murderer serving a life sentence, is in a serious condition in hospital after being attacked by another inmate with a makeshift weapon. The assault and its aftermath have dominated early editions of Friday's papers and prompted a police inquiry at the high-security prison where he was injured.

Attack at HMP Frankland involved a makeshift weapon and left him in a pool of blood

Prisoners and staff at HMP Frankland in County Durham were at the centre of the incident in which Huntley was found lying in a pool of blood after being bludgeoned with a make-shift weapon at a prison workshop. The suspected attacker is triple killer Anthony Russell, 43, who is suspected of carrying out the assault with a makeshift weapon. One tabloid headlined "I've done it! I've done it!", quoting the apparent words shouted by the prisoner who allegedly struck Huntley with a metal pole. A separate tabloid quoted a source saying "the attacker got him when he least expected it. "

Suspect Anthony Russell is serving a whole-life term for a 2020 spree

Anthony Russell is serving a whole-life prison term for the murders of Julie Williams, her son David Williams and Nicole McGregor, whose body was found in woodland near Leamington Spa. He admitted those murders during a week-long spree in October 2020. Police say a male prisoner in his mid-40s who is suspected of carrying out the attack is "in detention" but had not been arrested "at this stage"; a police investigation is under way and detectives are liaising with staff at the prison.

Medical update: significant head trauma and no overnight improvement

Huntley, 52, has suffered significant head trauma and is undergoing treatment in hospital. In an update on Friday, Durham Constabulary said there had been "no change in the 52-year-old man's condition overnight - he remains in hospital in a serious condition. " Other early reports about the coverage noted one paper saying Huntley was "close to death. "

Ian Huntley has been attacked in custody before

This assault is not the first violent incident involving Huntley while in custody. He was slashed across the throat in 2010 and needed 21 stitches. In 2005 he was attacked by a convicted murderer who chucked boiling water over him at HMP Wakefield. The high-security prison where the latest attack occurred has been nicknamed "monster mansion" because of its extreme levels of violence and its population of some of the most dangerous criminals, including murderers and rapists.

Background: the Soham killings of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman

Huntley is serving a life sentence for the murders of two schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, in August 2002. In the commuter town of Soham in Cambridgeshire the two ten-year-old girls had been at a family barbeque; it is believed they were on their way to buy sweets when Huntley, then aged 28, lured them back to his home and killed them. The photograph of the girls in their red Manchester United football kits remains etched in public memory.

Front pages and wider coverage: by-election timing, care-worker shortfalls and other leads

Early editions of Friday's papers came out before the result of the Gorton and Denton by-election and many led with the prison attack on the child murderer. Coverage of the story sat alongside broader front-page items: experts warning that hospitals and care homes face "an impending car crash" as research shows the number of nurses and care workers coming from overseas has collapsed, and analysis of Home Office figures suggesting the number of "foreign nurses granted entry to Britain has fallen by 93% over three years. "

Other front-page threads included a lobbying company founded by Lord Mandelson discovering a "significant" tranche of his business emails are missing; Global Counsel conducted an internal audit after the government agreed this month to release messages relating to his time as the British ambassador to the US. It is reported that Lord Mandelson stopped being able to access his email address last February and that Global Counsel went into administration last week.

Debate over assisted dying in England and Wales also featured, with peers accused of sabotaging legislation said to face "collapse" and Baroness Berger quoted saying supporters are "attacking Lords who are only doing their job. " It was noted that if the legislation does fail, about 50 MPs in favour would attempt to force it into law by putting their names forward for private member's bills. One financial front page showed the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his teenage daughter Kim Ju Ae in matching leather jackets at a military parade, an image said to have "fuelled speculation she is being groomed to become the eventual leader of the dictatorship. "