Ian Huntley being questioned by detectives Friday August 16,2002,about the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman (Picture: PA)
Soham murderer Ian Huntley is still in a serious condition after being smashed over the head with a metal pole by another inmate.
Huntley,52,was ambushed inside a workshop at the maximum security HMP Frankland yesterday morning.
Triple killer Anthony Russell,43,has been widely named as the prime suspect,with reports saying he bludgeoned Huntley with a metal bar from a nearby crate while he was unguarded.
Inmates are said to have cheered as Russell was led away in handcuffs shouting while Huntley lay in a pool of blood: ‘I’ve done it,I’ve done it. I’ve killed him,I’ve killed him.’
In an update this morning,a Durham Constabulary spokesperson said: ‘There has been no change in the 52-year-old man’s condition overnight – he remains in hospital in a serious condition.’
Ian Huntley is serving a life sentence for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)Reports suggest a fight broke out between Huntley and Russell,who then armed himself with the makeshift weapon and landed up to six blows.The prison source told the Mail: ‘It was a very,very serious injury,having been struck on the skull like that.’A woman who had been to visit another prisoner on the wing told the paper it looked like the child murderer had been ‘ripped apart like a rat’,adding: ‘He’s in a bad,bad way.‘I shouldn’t say it,but it’s what he deserves.’
Anthony Russell has been widely named as the prime suspect in the ambush (Picture: PA)Police said Huntley was treated for head injuries and remains in a serious condition in hospital.They added that a male prisoner in his mid-40s has been identified as a suspect and remains in detention within the prison but has not yet been arrested.Thursday’s assault was the latest attempt on Huntley’s life and he was thought to have been kept under close observation to prevent similar attacks.He is serving a life sentence with a recommendation that he serves at least 40 years for the murders.
Holly Wells (left) and her best friend Jessica Chapman pictured in their Manchester United shirts shortly before they disappeared (Picture: PA)In 2010,robber Damien Fowkes slashed Huntley with a home-made weapon,causing a ‘severe,gaping cut to the left side of his neck’ with a 7in (18cm) wound which required 21 stitches.Fowkes asked a prison officer: ‘Is he dead? I hope so.’He described Huntley as a ‘notorious child killer,both inside prison and in society in general’.Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi is accused of carrying out ‘terrorist’ attacks on prison officers at the maximum-security jail with hot cooking oil and makeshift weapons.He denies three counts of attempted murder after four officers were injured on April 12.Former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after an alleged attack last October at HMP Wakefield,where he was serving a 29-year sentence for child sexual offences.On Monday,Killamarsh killer Damien Bendall was handed another life sentence after he admitted the attempted murder of another Frankland inmate who he attacked with a claw hammer in a prison workshop.A prison officer who witnessed the attack thought Bendall,who murdered his partner and three children with a hammer and is serving a whole life tariff,had killed his victim,but he survived.Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at .
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