Ian Huntley was airlifted to hospital after being found in a pool of blood following an attack on his prison wing at HMP Frankland, County Durham at approximately 9am this morning, with sources describing his condition as “touch and go.”
The 52-year-old, who is serving life for murdering 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire in 2002, was reportedly targeted in a behind-bars ambush. A source told the Sun the scene on the wing was “absolute chaos.”
It is not known how the attacker gained access to Huntley, who is usually under close guard at all times. The double killer has previously been attacked multiple times during his imprisonment, most notably by armed robber Damien Fowkes in 2010, who slashed his throat.
In 2005, fellow murderer Mark Hobson threw boiling water over Huntley at Wakefield Prison. His crimes continue to cause outrage behind bars amongst other inmates.
Last year prison guards stormed Huntley’s cell after he was spotted wearing a red Manchester United-style shirt with the number 10 on the back. He was accused of taunting the families of his victims, as Holly and Jessica were wearing Manchester United tops at the time of their disappearance, aged 10.
School caretaker Huntley lured both girls into his home and murdered them before dumping their bodies in a ditch some 12 miles away. They were not discovered until more than a week after they went missing.
His two victims, who were best friends, had gone out to buy sweets on a summer’s afternoon when he lured them into his three-bedroom cottage. Their disappearance after a family barbecue sent shockwaves through the close-knit community.
Suspicions about Huntley were raised after he appeared to tell one journalist in morbid detail how the girls might react to being taken by a stranger. He was convicted in 2003 of both murders, having pleaded not guilty.
His then-fiancée Maxine Carr, who was a teaching assistant at the girls’ school, was jailed for three-and-a-half years after giving her partner a false alibi in a bid to help him evade justice. She famously turned on her partner at court.
Huntley was ultimately jailed for life, having tried to claim he had killed both girls accidentally. He lied that Holly had drowned in his bath and that he had accidentally suffocated Jessica while attempting to stop her from screaming.
