Soham Killer Ian Huntley Dies Aged 52 After Prison Pole Attack

Ian Huntley, the notorious Soham double murderer, died this morning at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, aged 52, after medics turned off his life support. He had been given only a 5% chance of survival following a ferocious assault on February 26 at HMP Frankland in Co Durham, where a fellow inmate allegedly smashed a three-foot spiked metal pole into his skull up to 15 times. The Ministry of Justice confirmed his passing around 8:45am, expressing sympathies to the families of victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, whose 2002 killings shocked the nation.

Attack Details

Huntley was bludgeoned from behind in a prison workshop while bending to tie string on a recycling crate, collapsing in a pool of blood as his attacker reportedly yelled, “I’ve done it! I’ve killed him!” Suspect Anthony Russell, 43, a convicted triple killer and rapist, is under investigation by Durham Constabulary, with a file prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service. Huntley suffered catastrophic injuries including blindness, severe skull fractures, a broken jaw, and brain damage, leaving him in a vegetative state despite an air ambulance response and induced coma. Security was later downgraded as recovery proved impossible.

His mother, Lynda Richards, 71, visited secretly days earlier, describing him as “unrecognisable” and confiding to friends she hoped he might not survive, though she yearned to be “free of it” amid public backlash. Daughter Samantha Bryan, 27, echoed public outrage, stating a “special place in hell” awaited him. Prison staff and inmates despised Huntley for his arrogance and crimes, with one ex-officer predicting celebrations at Frankland.​

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Prior Violence and Suicide Attempts

Huntley had long been a prison target. In 2010, Damien Fowkes slit his throat at Frankland, requiring 21 stitches; he fought off a 2018 razor-toothbrush attack; and suffered scalding by boiling water in 2005 at HMP Wakefield. He attempted suicide at least three times: a pre-trial overdose coma in 2003, another in 2006 at Wakefield, and in 2012. Sources called his survival post-latest attack “miraculous” but short-lived.

Background of Soham Murders

In August 2002, Huntley lured 10-year-old schoolfriends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman into his Cambridgeshire home after they left a barbecue for sweets. As Soham Village College caretaker, with girlfriend Maxine Carr as their teaching assistant, he drowned Holly in a bath (claiming accident), smothered Jessica, burned their bodies, and dumped remains near Lakenheath airbase. Convicted in 2003 at the Old Bailey after a false alibi from Carr (jailed 21 months for perverting justice), he received two life terms with a 40-year minimum, ineligible for parole until 2042. His lies prolonged family agony during the massive search.