Ian Huntley, the former school caretaker convicted of murdering 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, has died in hospital after being attacked at HMP Frankland in County Durham. The 52-year-old was assaulted with a spiked metal pole in a prison workshop on 26 February and suffered severe brain trauma, according to reports. He was taken off life support on Friday after his condition deteriorated.
Huntley was serving two life sentences for the murders of the girls, who disappeared from Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August 2002. Their bodies were found 13 days later in a ditch near an RAF base. The case prompted one of the largest police investigations in British history, with 400 officers assigned full-time.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remain one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation's history, and our thoughts are with their families.' Durham Constabulary confirmed that a police investigation into the attack is ongoing, with a file being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service.
HMP Frankland is a category A prison housing high-profile inmates, including Michael Adebolajo, Levi Bellfield, and Wayne Couzens. Violent attacks at the prison are not uncommon; last April, three prison officers were seriously injured in an attack by Hashem Abedi, brother of the Manchester Arena bomber.
