Inmate appears in court charged with prison murder of Soham killer Ian Huntley
A prisoner accused of murdering Soham killer Ian Huntley in prison has appeared in court.
Huntley, 52, was reportedly attacked with a metal bar in a workshop at HMP Frankland, near Durham, on February 26. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle and died there on Saturday morning.
Anthony Russell, 43, appeared before Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court via video link on Wednesday and was charged with a single count of murdering Huntley at the maximum security prison.
During the five-minute hearing, the 43-year-old, wearing a gray sweatshirt and sitting at a table, spoke only to confirm his name and said he understood he would appear at Newcastle Crown Court next Thursday.
District Judge Steven Hood told Russell: “The charge of murder can only be heard at the crown court. Therefore, I am sending this case to Newcastle Crown Court and you will appear at Newcastle Crown Court tomorrow morning.”
“This is because in matters such as murder the magistrates court cannot consider anything other than remand and the law states that the person must appear before the crown court within 48 hours.”
Huntley was serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
The former schoolkeeper killed his best friends as they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4 and then dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away. Despite hundreds of police searches, they could not be found for 13 days.
Meanwhile, justice secretary Sarah Sackman has denied the state will pay £3,000 towards Huntley’s funeral costs.
To talk LBCHe said: “It’s a simple funeral. And this man, Ian Huntley, deserves no more than the absolute minimum. We’re not spending £3,000.”
Huntley denied killing Holly and Jessica but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 40 years.
At the time of Holly and Jessica’s murders, Huntley was living with Maxine Carr, a teacher’s assistant at the girls’ primary school. Carr gave Huntley a false alibi and was sentenced to 21 months in prison for perverting the course of justice. He now lives with a new identity.
