Soham murderer Ian Huntley in serious condition after makeshift weapon attack
33 minutes agoSima Kotecha,Senior UK correspondent andJamie Whitehead
PA MediaSoham double murderer Ian Huntley remains in hospital in a serious condition after being attacked with a makeshift weapon by another inmate.
The BBC understands that triple killer Anthony Russell, 43, is suspected of the attacking Huntley using a makeshift weapon.
Huntley, 52, has suffered significant head trauma from his injuries and is undergoing treatment.
He is serving a life sentence for murdering schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002.
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”.
Previously police 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”.
The force also confirmed a police investigation is under way and that detectives are liaising with staff at the prison.
Sources have told the BBC Huntley was found lying in a pool of blood after being bludgeoned with a make-shift weapon at a prison workshop at HMP Frankland – the high security prison in County Durham.
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 had admitted the murders during a week-long spree in October 2020.
This is not the first time Huntley has been attacked at the prison – he was slashed across the throat in 2010 – and needed 21 stiches.
The prison is nicknamed monster mansion due to its extreme levels of violence. It houses some of the most dangerous criminals including murderers and rapists.
Huntley was also attacked in 2005 by a convicted murderer who chucked boiling water over him at HMP Wakefield.
As Huntley lies in hospital with serious injuries from the attack, many will be remembering the horror of what he did more than 20 years ago.
In the commuter town of Soham in Cambridgeshire, Ian Huntley killed two ten-year-old girls in the summer of 2002.
Holly and Jessica 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 photo of the girls he killed – in their red Manchester United football kits – is etched in the minds of many who vividly remember their disappearance and murder.
It was taken by Holly’s mum Nicola just an hour-and-a-half before they were last seen. It dominated news reports at the time as a nationwide search for them took place.
Four hundred officers worked full-time on the case. Hundreds more volunteers joined the search but nearly a fortnight after they disappeared – the girls’ bodies were found in a ditch in Suffolk.
Huntley was arrested the same day. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to a minimum of 40 years for the double murders – with the judge saying “in your lies and manipulation up to this very day, you have increased the suffering you have caused the two families”.
His girlfriend Maxine Carr was also jailed in 2003 after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice for giving him a false alibi. She has since been released.