Man charged with murder after child killer Ian Huntley bludgeoned in prison

A man has been charged with murder following the death of child killer Ian Huntley.

The Soham killer died on Saturday (7 March) in hospital after an attack in prison over a week prior.

He was reportedly hit over the head with a metal bar in a workshop at HMP Frankland, near Durham, on 26 February. Huntley was taken from the maximum security jail to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle.

The 52-year-old's life support was said to have been switched off on Friday before he died the next morning.

Anthony Russell, an inmate at HMP Frankland who has been charged with Huntley's murder, is set to appear in court via video link tomorrow.

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said in a statement this morning: “A man has been charged with murder following an incident at HMP Frankland in Durham. Emergency services were called to reports of an assault in the workshop on the morning of Thursday, February 26.

Ian Huntley pictured outside his house during the period when police were searching for Holly and Jessica (PA Archive)

“Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries but died on the morning of Saturday, March 7.

"Anthony Russell, 43, of HMP Frankland, has been charged with murder and will appear via video link at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, March 11.”

Christopher Atkinson of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked closely with Durham Constabulary as they carried out their investigation.”

The CPS said it was 'vital' there was no 'reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings'.

Huntley was serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders of 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Holly and Jessica were murdered by Huntley (PA Archive)

The ex-school caretaker killed the pair after they had left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August 2002.

The murderer dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away and they were not found for 13 days.

Huntley denied murdering Holly and Jessica, but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003.

Before the murder charge was announced, Justice Minister Sarah Sackman told LBC that the state would not be spending £3,000 towards the cost of his funeral.

“But the key thing here is that we stand with those families. I don’t really want to be talking about Ian Huntley," she said.

“What I’m only sorry about is that he’s no longer alive, rotting in prison, thinking about what he did to those two little girls.”