Soham killer Ian Huntley died after prison attack, inquest hears
Soham killer Ian Huntley died after prison attack, inquest hears
Inquest reveals Huntley died from blunt head injury after an attack at HMP Frankland; case continues as a fellow inmate is charged with murder.
An inquest has opened in Crook, County Durham, into the death of Ian Huntley, the Soham killer. The 52-year-old died in hospital on 7 March after suffering a blunt head injury following an attack days earlier in a workshop at HMP Frankland, a high-security jail in Durham. A coroner's officer read a statement noting Huntley’s date of birth, his status as a prisoner, and his residence at Frankland. The post-mortem, carried out by a Home Office pathologist, recorded the cause of death as a blunt head injury.
Anthony Russell, 43, has been charged with murder and will attend a Newcastle Crown Court pre-trial preparation hearing on 24 April. Huntley had been serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, two 10-year-old girls who were killed in Soham, Cambridgeshire. After leaving a family barbecue to buy sweets on 4 August 2002, the girls’ bodies were dumped in a ditch about 10 miles away.
The case has brought renewed attention to the long-running tragedy in Soham and the circumstances surrounding Huntley’s death, with officials noting the inquest will proceed to consider further evidence in due course. The proceedings highlighted the facts known at this stage: Huntley’s age, his inmate status, the location of the attack, and the resulting death in hospital.
