An inmate has appeared in court charged with murdering Soham killer Ian Huntley in prison.
Huntley, 52, was reportedly attacked with a metal bar in a workshop at HMP Frankland, near Durham, on 26 February. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where he died on Saturday morning.
Anthony Russell, 43, appeared before Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court via videolink on Wednesday, charged with a single offence of murdering Huntley in the maximum-security jail.
During the five-minute hearing, the 43-year-old, wearing a grey sweatshirt and sitting at a table, spoke only to confirm his name and that he understood he would appear next at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday.
District Judge Steven Hood told Russell: “The offence of murder can only be heard in the crown court. Therefore, I am sending this matter to Newcastle Crown Court, and you will appear at Newcastle Crown Court tomorrow morning.
“The reason for that is because in matters such as murder, the magistrates' court cannot consider anything other than a remand in custody, and the law states that a person must appear within 48 hours before a crown court.”
Huntley was serving a life sentence for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002.
The ex-school caretaker murdered the best friends after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August, before dumping their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away. They were not found for 13 days, despite a search involving hundreds of police officers.
Meanwhile, justice minister Sarah Sackman has denied that the state would be paying £3,000 towards the cost of Huntley’s funeral.
Speaking to LBC, she said: “It’s a basic funeral. And this man, Ian Huntley, doesn’t deserve anything more than the absolute bare minimum. We’re not spending £3,000.”
Huntley had denied murdering Holly and Jessica but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years.
At the time of Holly and Jessica’s murders, Huntley lived with Maxine Carr, who was a teaching assistant at the girls’ primary school. Carr gave Huntley a false alibi and was jailed for 21 months for perverting the course of justice. She is now living under a new identity.
