Ian Huntley Dead — Assault at HMP Frankland leaves Soham killer in serious condition
ian huntley dead is included here as the 52-year-old Soham murderer was found in a pool of blood at HMP Frankland and remains in hospital in a serious condition. The suspected attacker, triple killer Anthony Russell, 43, has been identified and police say a formal investigation is under way.
Ian Huntley Dead: Found bludgeoned in a prison workshop at HMP Frankland
Prison staff found Huntley lying in a pool of blood after he was bludgeoned with a makeshift weapon at a prison workshop at HMP Frankland, the high security prison in County Durham. The 52-year-old has suffered significant head trauma and is undergoing treatment; 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 discovery came on Thursday when officers and prison medics moved him to hospital.
Anthony Russell, 43, suspected and serving a whole-life term
Anthony Russell, 43, a triple killer, is suspected of carrying out the attack on Huntley. Russell is serving a whole-life prison term for the murders of Julie Williams, her son David Williams and Nicole McGregor; McGregor's body was found in woodland near Leamington Spa. Russell admitted those murders during a week-long spree in October 2020.
Police investigation, detainee status and prison protections
Police have opened an investigation and detectives are liaising with prison staff. Earlier statements said a male prisoner in his mid-40s suspected of carrying out the attack was "in detention" and had not been arrested "at this stage"; officials also said a man in his mid-40s who was being investigated remains in detention within the prison. Huntley would have been on Rule 43 and held in the unit for vulnerable inmates, a place for mostly sex offenders and police informants. Any prisoner convicted of a child sex crime is a target for other inmates, and there has long been what has been described as a price on Huntley's head from his first day inside.
Previous assaults in custody, including a throat slashing and boiling-water attack
Attackers have targeted Huntley in custody before. In 2005 he was attacked at HMP Wakefield when a convicted murderer threw boiling water over him. In March 2010 an inmate slashed Huntley's throat with a makeshift knife, inflicting a wound seven inches long; the court was told it was only "good fortune" the weapon missed anything vital. That throat wound required 21 stitches. The inmate responsible for that attack was later jailed for life; Damien Fowkes was 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.
Soham murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman and Huntley's sentence
Huntley is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002. The two ten-year-old girls from the commuter town of Soham in Cambridgeshire 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 photograph of Holly and Jessica in their red Manchester United football kits remains memorable to many more than 20 years after the killings.
