Child murderer Ian Huntley has allegedly been left with a slim chance of survival after a brutal prison attack.
Reports surfaced earlier this week that the 52-year-old, who is known as the Soham killer after committing the horrific murders of two 10-year-old girls in 2002, is fighting for his life after he was targeted by another inmate with a spiked metal pole.
Huntley has been attacked before during his time behind bars, with scalding water thrown over him in 2005 before he had his throat reportedly slashed by a razor blade in 2010.
However, the latest attack might prove to be deadly, with The Sun now reporting that he's been given just a five per cent chance of living after he was hit repeatedly in the head during a prison workshop.
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The attacker allegedly yelled: “I’ve done it, I’ve done it. I’ve killed him, I’ve killed him”.
A source told The Sun: “It is miraculous he is still alive. Medics have worked miracles on him and he has clung on.
“The prison nurses and staff who first saw him thought he was gone And medics said there was only a five per cent chance of survival after an attack like that.
“It is still touch and go, and he could get worse. But it is extraordinary that he is still alive.
“When it first happened, he was totally unresponsive and could not breathe.”
Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were both lured to his Soham home, with the former school caretaker then killing them and leaving their bodies in a ditch near an airbase at Mildenhall in Suffolk.
Sentencing him in 2003, Mr Justice Moses said of Holly and Jessica: "You enticed two 10-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, into your house. They were happy, intelligent and loyal.
"They were much loved by their families and all who knew them. You murdered them both. You are the one person who knows how you murdered them, you are the one person who knows why.
"You destroyed the evidence, which showed no mercy and no regret. Once you killed one of them, you had to kill the other in an attempt to avoid detection.
"On the 10th of August, six days later, you told the BBC that you were the last friendly face these two girls had to speak to. That was a lie which served to underline the persistent cruelty of your actions."
The latest update from police themselves suggested that Huntley was in a serious condition, while his attacker has been identified.
A spokesperson for the force explained: "The 52-year-old prisoner who was injured during this morning’s assault in the workshop at HMP Frankland remains in a serious condition in hospital following treatment for head injuries.
"Police forensic teams have examined the scene of the attack throughout the day to gather evidence.
"A suspect, a male prisoner in his mid-40s, has been identified by officers investigating the incident.
"He has not been arrested at this stage but remains in detention within the prison."
Child killers and sex offenders have a history of being attacked behind bars, with the paedophile and former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins killed in prison last year.
James Moorhouse