Soham killer Ian Huntley has died in hospital after he was attacked in the workshop of a maximum security prison by an inmate.
The 52-year-old suffered severe brain trauma in the attack at HMP Frankland, Durham, on 26 February, The Sun newspaper first reported.
He was reportedly blinded and was not expected to regain consciousness after being beaten over the head with a makeshift weapon at the high security prison.
Huntley, a former school caretaker, was convicted of murdering 10-year-old schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells in Soham, Cambridgeshire in 2002 in a case that shocked the nation. Holly and Jessica were murdered after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our thoughts are with their families.”
Huntley’s life support machine had reportedly been turned off on Friday after consultations with his mother Lynda Richards. Brain tests have shown that he was in a vegetative state, the paper reported. Huntley was confirmed dead on Saturday.
A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary said: “A man who was attacked at HMP Frankland in Durham last week has died in hospital this morning.
“Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries following an incident in the workshop on the morning of Thursday, February 26. A police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing.
“A file is being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration for charges.”
The Sun quoted a source saying: “This is it, this is the end of Huntley. He is effectively dead and, at the best, is drawing his last breaths.”
They added: “He never really recovered from the beating he took, and never stood much of a chance of doing so. Huntley had been attacked loads of times in prison so the day he was killed was always likely to arrive.”
Murderer and rapist Anthony Russell, 43, reportedly shouted “I’ve done it, I’ve done it” after Huntley was attacked in the recycling area of the prison.
Durham Constabulary has not identified the suspect, but it said on the day of the attack that a man in his mid-40s had been detained.
Huntley, one of Britain’s most reviled killers, was jailed for life with a minimum 40-year tariff in December 2003. Huntley lured Holly and Jessica into his home in Soham, Cambridgeshire, where he lived with Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at the girls’ school.
With Carr away for the weekend, Huntley murdered the girls and dump their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away. Their disappearance sparked a search involving hundreds of police officers.
As the nation’s media descended on Soham to report on the disappearances, Huntley gave interviews to journalists, with one reporter Brian Farmer from the Press Association becoming so concerned afterwards that he went to the police.
During his trial at the Old Bailey, Huntley tried to convince the jury that Holly had suffered a nosebleed and that she drowned in the bath, and he killed Jessica as he tried to silence her screams.
They did not believe him and he was convicted of two counts of murder.
The Frankland attack was the latest attempt on Huntley’s life, and he was thought to have been kept under close observation to prevent such attacks.
In 2005, an inmate threw boiling water over him while he was in Wakefield prison in West Yorkshire.
In 2010, robber Damien Fowkes slashed him with a homemade weapon, causing a “severe, gaping cut to the left side of his neck” with a 7in (18cm) wound that required 21 stitches.
Following the latest attack, Huntley’s daughter Samantha Bryan, 27, told The Sun on Sunday that “there’s a special place in hell waiting for him”.
She told the paper: “I started crying because I thought he was dead – it was an overwhelming sense of relief. Being his daughter has been a heavy burden. It felt like I could breathe again. I felt if he died, that burden died with him.”
