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Child killer Ian Huntley back in jail after having throat slashed
22 Mar 2010Soham murderer Ian Huntley was back in prison today after an attack by a fellow prisoner left him needing hospital treatment.
The 36-year-old's throat was reportedly slashed during yesterday's assault in Frankland Prison, County Durham, where he is serving two life sentences for murdering schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
The Prison Service has not said what Huntley's current state is in the jail, but said after the attack that his condition was not life-threatening.
A spokesman said: "A prisoner at HMP Frankland was assaulted by another prisoner at about 3.25pm on Sunday March 21. The prisoner was taken to outside hospital for treatment but has now returned to prison."
Prison officials have launched an investigation into what happened.
It has been reported that Huntley's throat was slashed with a makeshift knife, and the child killer was found by prison staff lying in a pool of blood.
He was convicted of murdering Holly and Jessica, who were both 10, in December 2003 after they vanished from their homes in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002.
The murder of the two girls sent shockwaves across the country.
Huntley, a caretaker at the secondary school in Soham, and his then girlfriend Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant in Holly and Jessica's junior school class, initially told police they knew nothing of the circumstances surrounding the girls' disappearance.
But it emerged at their trial at the Old Bailey that Huntley had met Holly and Jessica as they walked past his home, enticed them inside and killed them before hiding their remains.
Huntley was given two life terms after being convicted of the girls' murders.
Carr was jailed after being convicted of perverting the course of justice and has now been released from prison.
Yesterday's assault is not the first time Huntley has been attacked in prison.
An inmate threw boiling water on him while he was on the health care wing at the high-security Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire in September 2005.
He has also tried to commit suicide while in prison on three occasions.
He was moved to HMP Frankland, a Category A high security men's prison, in 2008. That year, HM Inspectorate of Prisons raised concerns about violence at the jail.
Colin Moses, from the Prison Officers' Association (POA), said prison safety was an issue that had to be addressed.
He told the BBC: "What we are asking for, right up to Jack Straw and his ministers, is zero tolerance to violence in our prisons.
"We have more violent prisons than we've ever had before.
"We want to see action taken to safeguard staff, safeguard inmates and safeguard the public."
Reader views (23)
i don't understand the system, why is the tax payer paying to keep such a perv safe, his boarding lodging security all are paid by the tax payer. after a few years time he will be back on the streets again a threat to the society and the tax payer's kids. if we look at it from any angle he is a menace. i pray next time the inmates use a very fool proof system in getting rid of him, and i hope he reads my comment and all the other comments about him...
- Bryan, london, 23/03/2010 09:26
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lets hope he rots there
- Martin, navan co meath ireland, 23/03/2010 02:36
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yes he may be someone's son , yes his poor mother , but what about the girls parents ? let Hunley come to the face of death time over.
- T.Griffiths, bournemouth, 22/03/2010 17:22
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Dal, Bromley - I agree with your sentiments, however unfortunately in this country a life sentence doesn't mean life. If only he would be locked away for 40 years, however we all know that isn't going to happen - give it a few more years and some nameless parole board will decide he has paid his debt and is ready to return to society. It is a real shame that we have to rely on convicted criminals for the true punishment for a murdering pervert
- Brianc, London, England, 22/03/2010 15:46
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Thank you Toni for a voice of reason.
- Simon, LDN, 22/03/2010 15:38
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we do have to remember he is still someones son and as much as he should spend the rest of his life in prison his parents and family dont deserve to be put through all the pain and suffering that him being attacked must bring
- Toni, lowestoft suffolk, 22/03/2010 15:22
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When British law )perhaps more accurately, the judiciary) is increasingly becoming too politically correct - at times to a ridiculous degree - for its own good, you will increasingly find the people the law is supposed to serve taking not only the law into their own hands, via kangaroo courts and vigilante groups, but also the punishment. The collective will of a society should, and will, always, prevail, if not necessarily via the 'proper' channels.
- Paul H, LONDON, 22/03/2010 15:18
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His fellow prisoner only did what most of us would have liked to have the chance to do.
- Mike M, Bedford, 22/03/2010 13:50
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Glad there's little pity for him. He deserves everything he gets. Life in prison isn't a sufficient punishment for what he did, and it probably won't mean 'life'. Hope it happens again and again.
- Julie, Yorkshire, 22/03/2010 13:35
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What if the throat slasher was a paedo himself?
- Anthony, Esher, Surrey, 22/03/2010 13:06
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Hopefully this won't be the end of the matter. He'll have to endure many more years of it. Oh dear...how sad...never mind !!!
- Janicebyrne, sussex, 22/03/2010 12:41
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Winston Churchill said a country "should be judged by the way it treats it's prisoners" and he wasn't wrong. Huntley is a sick and twisted individual who should be serving hard time but no right thinking person should condone vile attacks such as the one he has just suffered. Do we want to be like America, where a prisoner's 'time' is expected to include abuse?
- Steve Barlow, Birmingham England, 22/03/2010 12:21
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I agree with Brian Fast, Sydney Australia. I hope he comes close to death many times over, before he departs this earth.
- Jc, London, 22/03/2010 11:45
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IanF, said "What sort of society are we in where lynch mobs Frank seem to be the order of the day?"
One where people have little confidence in the legal system and fewer who believe that "justice" is seen to be done or that HM Govt. takes seriously its duty to protect the citizens of this country.
- Mark, South East London, 22/03/2010 11:08
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We are lucky he didnt die, Huntley has tried taking his life numerous times, he doesnt want to live, why should we give him what he wants. Yes we are paying to keep him alive, but what life does he have being in prison for the rest of his life, Dieing is too easy for Huntley which is why is tries killing himself. Let him get slashed and punched every few months for the next 40 years before he dies
- Dal, Bromley, 22/03/2010 11:02
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What sort of society are we in where lynch mobs Frank seem to be the order of the day? Ian Huntley is pure evil without a doubt and deserves to be locked up for life without any privileges. I wonder if the lynch mob would punish the person perpetrating the throat-slashing. What's next? Mob rule in prisons being condoned?
- Ianf, London, United Kingdom, 22/03/2010 10:29
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sadly the edge on the make shift knife wasnt sharp enough,but huntley better keep sharp because he will be on edge the rest of his life.
- Scony, middlesbrough, 22/03/2010 09:49
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I was pleased to hear he was attacked in prison. Let them deal with him the way they know best. He deserves everything he gets.
- Frank, Copenhagen, Denmark, 22/03/2010 09:30
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Gordon Mayfield said "Pity they did not finish the evil killer off."
The pity is that the State never did it.
- Mark, South East London, 22/03/2010 09:24
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Hopefully he will have to endure a few more of these episodes in his pathetic life.
- Brian Fast, Sydney Australia, 22/03/2010 09:21
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Pity they did not finish the evil killer off.
- Gordon Mayfield, Adelaide Australia, 22/03/2010 09:13
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He deserves everything he gets. He gave no thought to the 2 little girls he murdered in cold blood.
- Jose Luis, London SW18, 22/03/2010 08:51
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No doubt some slimebag lawyer will claim his "human rights" have been infinged, blah, blah, blah!!
- Andy, London, 22/03/2010 08:30
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