Ian Huntley, the convicted murderer of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, refused to eat prison food for years due to fears that fellow inmates would poison him, instead subsisting on a diet of snack foods such as cheesy Wotsits, sources have revealed. The 52-year-old was attacked at HMP Frankland on Thursday morning, sustaining serious head injuries from a metal bar, and remains in hospital in a serious condition.
Huntley, who worked as a cleaner on A wing, had become increasingly paranoid about his safety behind bars. A source said: 'He has been living on a diet of things like cheesy Wotsits. He would not eat the prison food because he was convinced an inmate would poison him. So he bought snack food from the shop so he knew exactly what he was eating.' His weight reportedly ballooned as a result.
The attack occurred just after 9am on Thursday, when an inmate, identified as triple killer Anthony Russell, struck Huntley with a heavy metal bar. Huntley was left in a pool of blood and initially feared to be fighting for his life. Durham Police confirmed on Friday that there had been no change in his condition overnight.
Huntley is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002. He has been attacked three times while in prison and has twice attempted suicide. In 2005, he was scalded with boiling water at HMP Wakefield, and in 2010, he was slashed at HMP Frankland by robber Damien Fowkes, requiring 21 stitches.
Sources described Huntley as an increasingly isolated figure, held on a wing described as 'a prison within a prison' alongside other inmates at risk of attack. Despite his precautions, the attacker struck 'when it was least expected'. Huntley's former girlfriend Maxine Carr, who was jailed for conspiring to pervert the course of justice, was released in 2004 and given a new identity.
