Soham double murderer Ian Huntley has died in hospital after being attacked inside the workshop of HMP Frankland, a maximum-security prison in Durham, authorities said. Huntley, 52, suffered severe brain trauma in the Feb. 26 assault and had been kept on life support after being struck repeatedly over the head with a metal bar by another inmate.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our thoughts are with their families.”
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Durham Constabulary confirmed the death in a statement on Monday. “A man who was attacked at HMP Frankland in Durham last week has died in hospital this morning,” the force said. “Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries following an incident in the workshop on the morning of Thursday February 26. A police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing. A file is being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration for charges.”
Huntley was serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the 2002 murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire. The case horrified Britain and triggered one of the country’s largest search operations, involving hundreds of police officers and volunteers.
Holly and Jessica vanished on Aug. 4, 2002, after leaving a family barbecue to buy sweets. Their disappearance sparked a 13-day search that gripped the nation before their bodies were found near an air base outside Soham.
At the time of the killings, Huntley worked as a school caretaker and was living with his partner, Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at the girls’ primary school. Huntley denied murder but was convicted at the Old Bailey in 2003.
Carr provided Huntley a false alibi and was later jailed for 21 months for perverting the course of justice. She has since been released and is living under a new identity.
HMP Frankland, where Huntley was attacked, holds some of the country’s most serious offenders. Prison officials and police did not immediately release further details about the suspect in the assault or security measures in place at the time.
Huntley’s death closes a chapter in a case that reshaped public attitudes toward child protection and school safeguarding in the UK. But fresh scrutiny is now likely to fall on prison safety and violence inside high-security facilities as investigators examine how the attack unfolded.
Police said their inquiries are continuing. No charges have yet been announced.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
