{"id":30547,"date":"2026-03-07T16:20:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T21:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=30547"},"modified":"2026-03-07T16:20:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T21:20:32","slug":"soham-murderer-ian-huntley-dies-after-prison-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/03\/07\/soham-murderer-ian-huntley-dies-after-prison-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Soham murderer Ian Huntley dies after prison attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><b class=\"ssrcss-1xjjfut-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">Ian Huntley, the former school caretaker who murdered two 10-year-old schoolgirls in Soham, died on Saturday following an attack in prison.<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The 52-year-old suffered significant head trauma after being attacked with a makeshift weapon by another inmate at HMP Frankland on 26 February and had been on life support in hospital.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He had been serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for murdering best friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The Ministry of Justice said Huntley&#8217;s crime &#8220;remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation&#8217;s history, and our thoughts are with their families&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"links\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<ul class=\"ssrcss-94r6ik-Stack e1y4nx260\" role=\"list\">\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-ire9v9-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c9wnn8nn5p8o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">The legacy of Holly and Jessica&#8217;s murders: Soham &#8216;won&#8217;t waste its breath&#8217; on Huntley<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ssrcss-qzx51b-LinkItem e3eyuya1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1gccci3-Stack e1y4nx260\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-ire9v9-LinkHeadline e3eyuya4\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cx2j0g78834o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span aria-hidden=\"false\">&#8216;Interviewing Ian Huntley troubled me, so I called police&#8217;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/news\/38436417\/ian-huntley-life-support-shut-off-hours-death\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">As\u00a0first reported by the Sun newspaper<\/a>\u00a0Huntley&#8217;s life support was switched off on Friday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The brutality of his crimes made him a target in prison and he had been attacked several times previously. The BBC understands that triple killer Anthony Russell, 43, is suspected of attacking Huntley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Sources previously told the BBC that Huntley was found lying in a pool of blood after being bludgeoned with a makeshift weapon at a workshop at the high security prison in County Durham.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This was not the first time Huntley had been attacked at the prison &#8211; he was slashed across the throat and needed 21 stitches in 2010.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">HMP Frankland houses some of the most dangerous criminals including murderers and rapists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And, in 2005, he was attacked by a convicted murderer who threw boiling water over him at HMP Wakefield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Durham Constabulary have said they are preparing a file for the Crown Prosecution Service for the consideration of charges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">A spokesperson for the force said &#8220;a police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Holly and Jessica vanished after leaving a family barbecue in their small town near Cambridge in August 2002.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It is believed they were on their way to buy sweets when Huntley, then aged 28, lured them back to his home and killed them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-l7emlr-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1uy5kw5-FullWidthWrapper ep2nwvo1\" data-testid=\"image\">\n<figure class=\"ssrcss-pqb4c0-StyledFigure e34k3c22\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-ab5fd8-StyledFigureContainer e34k3c21\"><span class=\"ssrcss-1refsdi-Placeholder etlorgc0\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/240\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg.webp 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/320\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg.webp 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg.webp 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg.webp 624w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/800\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg.webp 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/976\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg.webp 976w\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"ssrcss-egie1y-Image edrdn950\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/980\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/240\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg 240w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/320\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg 320w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/480\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg 480w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/624\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg 624w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/800\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg 800w, https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/976\/cpsprodpb\/956e\/live\/b6713c00-1a0c-11f1-a429-a767b6f6663d.jpg 976w\" alt=\"Holly Wells (left) and Jessica Chapman went missing on 4 August 2002 in Soham, Cambridgeshire\n\n\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" \/><\/picture><\/span>Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman (Image: <span class=\"ssrcss-tzgxt7-StyledFigureCopyright e34k3c20\" role=\"text\">PA Media)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-vxwoax-ComponentWrapper e1aon0op1\" data-block=\"text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-126h8e-Spacer e1aon0op0\">\n<div data-testid=\"rich-text\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-nqezkk-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The photo of the girls he killed &#8211; in their red Manchester United football kits &#8211; is etched in the minds of many who vividly remember their disappearance and murder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Their disappearance made national headlines and led to police appeals and tireless searches of the town and flat countryside of The Fens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">A fortnight after searches began, the girls&#8217; bodies were found in a ditch about 10 miles away, near RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Huntley, who was originally from Grimsby, was arrested on the same day. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to a minimum of 40 years for the double murders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">His girlfriend Maxine Carr was also jailed in 2003 after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice for giving him a false alibi. She was given a new identity after being freed from jail in May 2004.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c80jmm00379o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\">Ian Huntley, the former school caretaker who murdered two 10-year-old schoolgirls in Soham, died on Saturday following an attack in prison. The 52-year-old suffered significant head trauma after being attacked with a makeshift weapon by <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2026\/03\/07\/soham-murderer-ian-huntley-dies-after-prison-attack\/\" title=\"Soham murderer Ian Huntley dies after prison attack\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109,2,4],"tags":[8336,6292,5867,7041,1746,9181,8519,4985,12302,2624,12303,840,8964,12301,5313],"class_list":{"0":"post-30547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headline","8":"category-news","9":"category-uk","10":"tag-anthony-russell","11":"tag-cambridge","12":"tag-cambridgeshire","13":"tag-county-durham","14":"tag-crown-prosecution-service","15":"tag-durham-constabulary","16":"tag-hmp-frankland","17":"tag-hmp-wakefield","18":"tag-holly-wells","19":"tag-ian-huntley","20":"tag-jessica-chapman","21":"tag-ministry-of-justice","22":"tag-raf-lakenheath","23":"tag-soham","24":"tag-suffolk","25":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30549,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30547\/revisions\/30549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}