Ian Huntley ‘smashed in the skull three times with pole grabbed from a waste metal crate’: Child murderer remains fighting for his life

Ian Huntley was hit three times in the head with a metal bar at the waste management area where he worked, the Daily Mail has revealed.

The Soham killer is serving a life sentence for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman at his home in Cambridgeshire in 2002.

But at around 9.30am today the 52-year-old was in the workshop of HMP Frankland when a prisoner in his mid-40s grabbed a metal bar from a nearby chest and launched the attack.

A prison source told the Daily Mail: ‘Huntley had been working on waste management with other inmates in A Wing, the segregated wing for prisoners who cannot be included in the regular prison population for their own safety.

‘The other prisoner took a metal bar from the waste metal crates and struck Huntley in the head three times with it. ‘Being hit in the skull like that was a very, very serious injury.’

The source said Wing A inmates, which included sex offenders and other offenders at high risk of attack such as jailed police officers, moved around the prison grounds as a group, so they were not separated from each other but were surrounded by other inmates.

Another source said the double killer’s situation was ‘touch and go’ and described the scene on the wing as ‘absolute chaos’.

It is understood that the detainee was placed in isolation following the attack.

Best friends Holly Wells (left) and Jessica Chapman (right) killed by Huntley

This is the third time Huntley has been attacked in prison. In 2010, his throat was slit with a homemade gun, and in 2005, another prisoner threw boiling water on him.

Last year Huntley was said to be wandering around the prison wearing a No.10 Manchester United-style jersey, flaunting vile taunts towards his victims.

The photo of schoolgirls wearing matching football jerseys, tragically taken on the day Huntley lured them to his home, has become synonymous with the desperate search that has gripped the country.

A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary said: ‘The 52-year-old prisoner, who was injured during this morning’s attack in the workshop at HMP Frankland, remains in a serious condition in hospital following treatment for a head injury.

‘Police forensic teams examined the scene of the attack throughout the day to collect evidence.

‘A male prisoner in his mid-40s was identified by police officers investigating the incident. ‘He has not been arrested at this stage, but he continues to be detained in prison.’

Huntley, the school guard, brought both schoolgirls to his home, killed them, and then dumped their bodies in a ditch about 12 miles away.

He would later return and try to set them on fire.

They were not discovered until more than a week after they disappeared; Meanwhile, nearly 400 police officers met with residents to search for the missing teenagers.

Best friends Holly and Jessica had gone out to buy candy on the afternoon of August 4, 2002, when Holly lured them into her three-bedroom cabin.

Their disappearance following a family barbecue sent shockwaves through the close-knit community and became one of the most sickening child murders the country has ever seen.

HMP Frankland today after Ian Huntley was attacked inside by another prisoner

Suspicions about Huntley were raised after it was revealed that he had told a journalist in sick detail how Jessica and Holly might react to being kidnapped by a stranger.

Suspicions about Huntley were raised after it was revealed that he had told a journalist in morbid detail how girls might react to being abducted by a stranger.

He pleaded not guilty and was convicted of both murders in 2003. Huntley was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 40 years.

His then-fiancée Maxine Carr, a teacher’s assistant at a girls’ school, was also to be jailed for three-and-a-half years for providing a false alibi to help her partner escape justice.

He was famously hostile to his partner in court, and Huntley was convicted for trying to claim he had accidentally killed both girls.

He lied about Holly drowning in the bathroom and accidentally drowning Jessica while trying to stop her from screaming.

The case sparked an investigation into how Huntley evaded police vetting procedures despite a series of sex allegations made against him in his hometown of Grimsby in the late 1990s.

The investigation report revealed a ‘deeply shocking’ catalog of errors across all organizations that were in contact with Huntley before he killed Holly and Jessica.

It made 31 recommendations to improve intelligence sharing, police information systems and nationwide employment review.

Huntley had been attacked in prison before; The most important of these was Damien Fowkes, the armed robber who slit his throat in 2010.

Huntley was found guilty of the murders after pleading not guilty. His then-girlfriend Maxine Carr (right) gave him a false alibi but stood up to him in the witness box

Using a homemade gun, Fowkes slashed him, causing a “serious laceration on the left side of his neck.” The wound was 18 cm long and required 21 stitches.

At that time Fowkes asked a prison officer: ‘Is he dead? I hope.’

A fellow inmate also tried to ambush Huntley in 2018.

In 2005, fellow murderer Mark Hobson also poured boiling water on himself in Wakefield Prison.

His crimes continue to spark outrage behind bars, as does Huntley’s brazen behavior while in custody.

In 2018, Huntley appeared to admit to deliberately killing Jessica to prevent her from raising the alarm. He continued to insist that Holly’s death was an accident.

After serving his prison sentence, Carr was released in 2004 with a brand new identity.