Soham murderer Ian Huntley cremated in £265 eco-friendly coffin as taxpayers pick up funeral tab
Soham murderer Ian Huntley was cremated in a £265 eco-friendly coffin paid for by taxpayers in a ceremony attended by no mourners. Independent can reveal.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spent almost £2,000 on funeral services for Huntley, who died in hospital after allegedly being assaulted at HMP Frankland in February.
An inquest last month found the 52-year-old man, who murdered 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, was fatally injured in the head with a metal bar at the maximum security prison, just days before his death at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
After a short while, a petition A petition signed by 64,000 people has been launched calling on the Ministry of Justice not to use taxpayer funds to pay for funeral costs, after it was revealed that up to £3,000 was being offered towards prisoners’ funeral expenses.
The Ministry of Justice said it spent £1,915 on Huntley’s cremation. Of this amount, £625 was for “professional services”, £275 for the transfer of his body from hospital, £65 for the cremation coffin and £265 for the “jute natural coffin”. £100 was also paid for staff involvement and supervision.
The jute coffin is made from natural, biodegradable materials that provide minimal environmental impact. The Ministry of Justice said the cost of cremation for “undirectly supervised” cremation was £585.
Under the Department of Justice’s standard practice for covering basic funeral expenses, the money is paid directly to the funeral director and does not cover funeral service, headstone or gravesite expenses.
Independent He understands that the casket was chosen because it was the most cost-effective option.
Previous inmates paid for by the state include Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe in 2020 and child murderer Raymond Morris in 2014.
Huntley’s ashes will be returned to his next of kin, his mother Lynda Richards, next month.
Ms Richards reportedly visited Huntley in hospital and was told he was in a vegetative state after his life support machine was turned off.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remain one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history and our thoughts are with their families.”
Huntley, a former school custodian, was serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders when he was killed.
On 4 August 2002, Soham attacked his closest friends as they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Cambridgeshire. He then dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away.
He denied killing the girls but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003. He was sentenced to life in prison with a recommended minimum sentence of 40 years.
Following Huntley’s death, inmate Anthony Russell, 43, was charged with murder.
