Ian Huntley, serving two life sentences for the murders of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both 10, was said to have been beaten from behind in HMP Frankland
Double child killer Ian Huntley was ‘bludgeoned from behind’ as he bent down in a prison attack that was described as “chaotic” by sources.
Huntley, 52, remains in a critical condition in an induced coma in hospital following the attack just after 9am on Thursday morning. The convicted killer was reportedly bent over tying up string on a recycling crate in a workshop at HMP Frankland in County Durham when his attacker hit him up to 15 times with a three-foot metal pole, according to sources.
Soham murderer Huntley was rushed to hospital, where his mother Lynda, who has visited, described him as “unrecognisable” to friends due to his injuries. He was given just a five per cent chance of survival after the attack which reportedly cut his head open.
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Huntley suffered a broken jaw, and brain and skull injuries in the attack at the recycling workshop, and is said to be hooked up to a ventilator. The main suspect in the attack has been identified as triple killer Anthony Russell, though police have not officially confirmed this.
A source described the attack as “unbelievably savage”, adding: “It is astonishing that Huntley is still alive. He was bending down tying some string onto a recycling crate when he was first hit – so was in a position like you’d be in when tying your shoelaces. And people who saw it say he was battered around 15 times.”
The source added that inmates were allegedly aware of an impending attack, saying “none of the prisoners there helped.” The source said: “They just watched it happen and it was staff who stepped in – but not before the attacker had inflicted some really severe damage. Everyone thought Huntley was dead and inmates and staff are absolutely stunned he is still alive.”
The source continued: “Afterwards, Russell was handcuffed and led away towards the chapel and was smirking. He has apparently admitted the attack in interviews and said he was proud of it. But he has also said he is ‘gutted’ that Huntley is still alive – because he was sure he’d killed him.”
A prison source told The Mirror the suspect in the attack is likely to be segregated from other inmates for several years. They added: “It’ll be business as usual [in the prison], it’ll be absolutely same as always, just there’ll be one less prisoner to worry about.
“Because it’s a serious assault, he’ll be moved to the segregation unit. He’ll probably just be held there for the foreseeable, certainly, because you can’t go around either trying to kill another prisoner or killing other prisoners, so he’ll probably be in a segregation unit for the next five, 10 years, maybe.”
Durham Constabulary said Huntley continues to be treated in hospital. “He remains in hospital in a serious condition,” their spokesperson said.
Huntley has been serving a life sentence for the brutal killings of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both 10, after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August, 2002. He later left their bodies in a ditch and attempted to evade suspicion by hiding in plain sight by giving media interviews about the police investigation.