The Soham murderer Ian Huntley has been cremated in a £265 eco-friendly coffin at a service with no mourners, with the bill picked up by the taxpayer, The Independent can reveal.
Taxpayer-Funded Funeral
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spent nearly £2,000 on funeral services for Huntley, who died in hospital after allegedly being attacked at HMP Frankland in February. An inquest last month heard that the 52-year-old, who murdered 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, suffered a fatal head injury from a metal bar in the high-security prison before dying days later at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
Following his death, a petition signed by 64,000 people urged the MoJ not to use taxpayer funds for his funeral, after it emerged that the department offers up to £3,000 towards prisoners' funeral costs. The MoJ has now revealed it spent £1,915 on Huntley's cremation. This included £625 for professional services, £275 for the transfer of his body from hospital, £65 for a cremation casket, and £265 for a jute natural coffin. An additional £100 was paid for staff attendance and supervision.
The Coffin and Cremation
A jute coffin is made from natural, biodegradable materials that have minimal environmental impact. The fee for the direct unattended cremation was £585, the MoJ said. Under standard practice, the MoJ covers basic funeral expenses, with money paid directly to the funeral director. This does not cover wakes, headstones, or burial plots. The Independent understands that the coffin was chosen as the most cost-effective option. Previous prisoners whose costs were covered by the state include Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe in 2020 and child killer Raymond Morris in 2014.
Huntley's ashes are due to be returned to his mother, Lynda Richards, as his next of kin next month. It was reported that Ms Richards visited Huntley in hospital, where he was said to be in a vegetative state after his life support machine was switched off.
Background
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.' Huntley, a former school caretaker, was serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders when he was killed. He attacked the best friends after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4, 2002. Later, he dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away. He denied murdering the girls but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003 and jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years. Following Huntley's death, inmate Anthony Russell, 43, was charged with his murder.
