Prisoner charged with murder of Soham killer Ian Huntley | UK news

A fellow prisoner has been charged with murdering child murderer Ian Huntley in a maximum security prison, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Anthony Russell, 43, will appear before magistrates accused of murdering the 52-year-old at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

Christopher Atkinson, of the CPS, said: “Our prosecutors worked to establish that there was sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it was in the public interest to continue the criminal investigation. We worked closely with Durham Constabulary in carrying out the investigations.”

Huntley, a former school caretaker, murdered Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both aged 10, in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August 2002. The girls had left the family barbecue to get candy.

On February 26, reports emerged that Huntley, 52, had been hospitalized after suffering serious brain trauma in an attack on a workshop. He is thought to have been attacked with a spiked metal pole, according to the Sun, which first reported the incident.

He was taken off life support on March 6 after his condition worsened.

Russell will appear at Newton Aycliffe magistrates court via video link on Wednesday afternoon, March 11.