Ian Huntley Dead: Soham murderer remains in serious condition after prison attack
ian huntley dead — Ian Huntley, 52, remains in hospital in a serious condition after being attacked with a makeshift weapon by another inmate at HMP Frankland, leaving him with significant head trauma and undergoing treatment.
Durham Constabulary update: condition unchanged and investigation under way
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. " The force confirmed a police investigation is under way and that detectives are liaising with staff at the prison. Police earlier said a male prisoner in his mid-40s suspected of carrying out the attack was "in detention" but had not been arrested "at this stage. " Huntley has suffered significant head trauma and is receiving treatment in hospital.
Attack at HMP Frankland: found in a pool of blood at a prison workshop
Prison staff found Huntley lying in a pool of blood after he had been bludgeoned with a makeshift weapon at a prison workshop at HMP Frankland, the high-security prison in County Durham. The prisoner was discovered following an alleged attack on Thursday and was taken to hospital after the discovery.
Suspected attacker named as triple killer Anthony Russell, 43
Triple killer Anthony Russell, 43, is suspected of attacking Huntley. Russell is serving a whole-life prison term for murdering 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.
Huntley's long history of being targeted inside prison
This is not the first time Huntley has been attacked while incarcerated. He was slashed across the throat in 2010 and needed 21 stitches. In 2005, a convicted murderer threw boiling water over him at HMP Wakefield. An inmate who slashed Huntley's throat with a makeshift knife was jailed for life in 2011. Damien Fowkes was later sentenced to a minimum of 20 years for the attempted murder of Huntley in March 2010 and for 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" the weapon missed anything vital. The prison system often places prisoners convicted of child sex crimes at risk from other inmates, and Huntley would have been held under Rule 43 in the unit for vulnerable inmates, which houses sex offenders and police informants.
The Soham murders and ongoing public memory
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 Soham, Cambridgeshire. The victims were ten years old. Holly and Jessica had been at a family barbeque and 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 two girls in their red Manchester United football kits remains etched in the public memory. As Huntley lies in hospital with serious injuries, the history of those murders and the sentences imposed remain part of the backdrop to the attack.
The phrase "ian huntley dead" has circulated amid the attack and hospitalisation, but official updates from police confirm he remains in hospital and under treatment.
