Evil Soham child murderer Ian Huntley has been attacked in prison and is understood to be fighting for his life in hospital.
Huntley, 52, is serving life for murdering 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in his home in Soham, a Cambridgeshire in 2002.
He was airlifted to hospital after being targeted in a behind-bars ambush on his prison wing this morning.
Huntley was reportedly found in a pool of blood after the incident at HMP Frankland, County Durham at around 9am.
A source said how the double killer’s condition was ‘touch and go’ and described the scene on the wing as ‘absolute chaos’.
It is not know how his attacker gained access to Huntley, who is usually under close guard at all times.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: ‘Police were alerted to an assault which had taken place within HMP Frankland in Durham this morning.
‘A male prisoner suffered serious injuries during the incident and was transported to hospital.
Huntley, 52, is serving life for murdering 10-year-olds Holly and Jessica in his home in Soham, a Cambridgeshire market town made infamous by his vile crimes in 2002
Holly Wells (left) and Jessica Chapman (right) were both murdered by Huntley in Soham, Cambridgeshire in 2002
‘A police investigation is now underway into the circumstances of the incident and detectives are liaising with staff at the prison’.
School caretaker Huntley lured both girls into his home and murdered them, before dumping their bodies in a ditch some 12 miles away.
They were not discovered until a more than a week after they went missing.
His two victims, who were best friends, had gone out to buy sweets on a summer’s afternoon when he lured them into his three-bedroom cottage.
Their disappearance after a family barbecue sent shockwaves through the close-knit community and became one of the most sickening child murders the country has ever seen.
Suspicions about Huntley were raised after he appeared to tell one journalist in morbid detail how the girls might react to being taken by a stranger.
He was convicted in 2003 of both murders, having pleaded not guilty. Huntley was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 40 years.
His then-fiancée Maxine Carr, who was a teaching assistant at the girls’ school, would also be jailed for three-and-a-half years after giving her partner a false alibi in a bid to help him evade justice.
She famously turned on her partner at court and Huntley was ultimately jailed for life, having tried to claim he had killed both girls accidentally.
He lied that Holly had drowned in his bath and that he had accidentally suffocated Jessica while attempting to stop her from screaming.
Holly Wells (right) and Jessica Chapman (left), both 10, were killed by Huntley in 2002 in a double murder which horrified the nation
Huntley (left) was convicted of the murders after pleading not guilty. His girlfriend at the time Maxine Carr (right) gave him a false alibi but turned on him in the witness box
Huntley has previously been attacked in prison, most notably by armed robber Damien Fowkes in 2010, who slashed his throat.
In 2005, fellow murderer Mark Hobson also threw boiling water over him in Wakefield Prison.
His crimes continue to cause outrage behind bars, as has Huntley’s brazen behaviour while on remand.
Last year prison guards stormed Huntley’s cell after he was spotted wearing a red Manchester United-style shirt with the number 10 on the back.
He was accused of brazenly taunting the families of his victims, as the girls themselves had been wearing Manchester United tops at the time of their disappearance, aged 10.
In 2018 Huntley appeared to confess to deliberately killing Jessica to stop her from raising the alarm. He continued to insist that Holly’s death was an accident.
After Carr had served her prison sentence, she was released with a brand new identity.
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.
