Anthony Russell suspected in attack leaving Ian Huntley in serious condition — anthony russell named as 43-year-old inmate
Triple killer anthony russell, 43, is suspected of attacking Ian Huntley, who has been left in hospital with significant head trauma after an incident at HMP Frankland. The assault and the identification of a high-profile inmate as the suspected attacker have prompted a police investigation and fresh attention to Huntley’s past and previous assaults in custody.
Anthony Russell identified as the suspected attacker at HMP Frankland
Triple killer Anthony Russell, 43, is suspected of carrying out the assault on Huntley. Russell is serving a whole-life prison term for the murders of Julie Williams, her son David Williams and Nicole McGregor; Nicole McGregor’s body was found in woodland near Leamington Spa. He had admitted those murders during a week-long spree in October 2020.
How the assault unfolded in the prison workshop
The 52-year-old former Soham murderer was found lying in a pool of blood after being bludgeoned with a makeshift weapon at a prison workshop at HMP Frankland, the high-security prison in County Durham. The killer was discovered at the workshop on Thursday and was taken to hospital following the attack.
Huntley’s injuries and the police update
Ian 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. " Police earlier said a man in his mid-40s suspected of carrying out the attack was in detention within the prison and had not been arrested at this stage.
Investigation under way and prison liaison
The force confirmed a police investigation is under way and detectives are liaising with staff at the prison. Officers have said the suspected attacker remained in detention within the prison rather than having been arrested outside custody at this stage.
Previous attacks on Huntley and the prison context
This is not the first time Huntley has been attacked in custody. He was slashed across the throat in 2010 and needed 21 stitches. In 2005, he was attacked when a convicted murderer threw boiling water over him at HMP Wakefield. In 2011, an inmate who slashed Huntley's throat with a makeshift knife was jailed for life. Damien Fowkes was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years for the attempted murder of Huntley in March 2010 and the manslaughter of child killer Colin Hatch; Fowkes inflicted a wound seven inches long on Huntley's neck, and the court was told it was only "good fortune" that the weapon missed anything vital.
Why Huntley has been targeted inside prison
From his first day inside, there was a price on Huntley's head. Any prisoner convicted of a child sex crime is a target for other inmates, and within the violent world of high-security jails there is a culture in which some inmates seek "respect" by attacking prisoners considered "the lowest of the low. " Huntley would have been held on Rule 43 in the prison's unit for vulnerable inmates, which houses mostly sex offenders and police informants.
The Soham murders and the background that still resonates
Huntley is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the murders of 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 and are believed to have been on their way to buy sweets when Huntley, then aged 28, lured them back to his home and killed them. The image of the girls in their red Manchester United football kits remains widely remembered.
