Anthony Russell: Soham murderer Ian Huntley seriously injured in prison attack

anthony russell The inmate convicted of murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman was taken to hospital after a serious assault at HMP Frankland, an incident that has reopened questions about his previous attacks in custody and the security of the category A prison.

Assault at HMP Frankland left a male prisoner with serious injuries

Durham constabulary said police were alerted to an assault that took place within HMP Frankland on Thursday morning. A male prisoner suffered serious injuries during the incident and was transported to hospital. A police investigation is under way and detectives are liaising with staff at the prison.

Ambulance response on 26 February 2026 and hospital transport

The North East ambulance service received a call at 9. 23am on Thursday 26 February 2026 to reports of an incident at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham. Two ambulance crews were dispatched and support was requested from the Great North air ambulance service. One patient was transported to hospital by road.

Reports of blunt-force trauma and a workshop attack

It is thought the prisoner was knocked unconscious with a metal pole. The assault has been described as involving a makeshift weapon and as taking place in a workshop at HMP Frankland, leaving the inmate in hospital with significant head trauma. his condition was "touch and go. "

Anthony Russell: Huntley's convictions, the Soham murders and past prison assaults

Ian Huntley, a former school caretaker, murdered two 10-year-old schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, in Soham. The girls vanished after leaving a family barbecue and going for a walk on 4 August 2002; they were school pupils in the same class at Soham's junior school. A fortnight after searches began the youngsters' bodies were found in a ditch about 10 miles away, near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, and had been asphyxiated.

Huntley was jailed for life in 2003 and was later sentenced to serve at least 40 years, with a judge saying he had "little hope of release. " He has been attacked several times in prison. During the search in 2002 he gave detailed television interviews in which he appeared to show concern; that behaviour and other actions during the inquiry later attracted suspicion.

Investigation details from the original case and prison context

The search for Holly and Jessica became one of the most intensive in British criminal history. The girls were missing for 13 days; 400 police officers were assigned full-time to the case, and investigators questioned every registered sex offender in Cambridgeshire and neighbouring Lincolnshire. Huntley became a suspect after claiming he had spoken to the girls shortly after they were last seen; his agitated demeanour and questions about how long DNA evidence would last increased police suspicion.

Initially, Huntley's then partner, Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant the girls knew, gave him an alibi that later broke down under police questioning. Officers arrested Huntley after finding charred pieces of the Manchester United shirts the girls had been wearing when they disappeared, and other evidence at his workplace that connected him to the crime. Carr served half of a 42-month sentence for perverting the course of justice.

Prison service comment and broader safety concerns at HMP Frankland

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "A prisoner is receiving treatment after an incident at HMP Frankland on Thursday morning. It would be inappropriate to comment further while police investigate. " HMP Frankland is a category A prison that houses a number of high-profile inmates, including Michael Adebolajo, Levi Bellfield and Wayne Couzens.

Violent attacks at the prison are not uncommon. 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 an inmate, Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi.

Media interviews and evidence given at trial

During the original investigation Huntley gave a media interview at the College Close home he shared with Maxine Carr and later came out of his house in Soham and sat in his car shortly after speaking to a journalist. A TV reporter, Debbie Tubby, gave evidence at the trial that four days after the girls went missing Huntley asked her if police had found their clothes. He also told her police had searched his house and that he believed he was the last person to have seen the girls alive. The trial judge later said Huntley had added to the families' grief by pretending to help and offering words of sympathy to Holly's father.

anthony russell