Ian Huntley died from prison attack head injury

Ian Huntley died from prison attack head injury

During an inquest, it was revealed that Ian Huntley, the former school caretaker and convicted murderer, succumbed to a severe head injury sustained in a prison assault. The incident occurred at HMP Frankland in Durham on 26 February, when Huntley was struck repeatedly with a metal bar by another inmate. He passed away nine days later at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Huntley, who was 52 at the time, had been serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the 2002 killings of 10-year-old friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire. The coroner, Jeremy Chipperfield, stated that further investigation into his death would be paused while criminal charges are pursued.

“Struck over the head multiple times by another prisoner with an object described as a metal bar,” the inquest heard.

Anthony Russell, 43, has been accused of causing Huntley’s death and is set to appear in court on 24 April. The short hearing in Crook, County Durham, detailed the attack, which resulted in “significant head injuries” leading to Huntley’s fatal condition. A forensic pathologist confirmed the cause of death as a blunt force trauma to the head.

Following the girls’ disappearance in August 2002, their bodies were discovered in a ditch two weeks later. The pair had vanished after leaving a family barbecue, and it is believed they were heading to purchase sweets when Huntley, then 28, lured them to his residence. The case sparked widespread media attention and police appeals for information.

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