Soham killer Ian Huntley died after being struck over the head 'multiple times with a metal bar' in prison attack, inquest hears

By GLEN KEOGH, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 11:50, 14 April 2026 | Updated: 11:52, 14 April 2026 Soham killer Ian Huntley died after being struck over the head ‘multiple times with a metal bar’ at the Category A prison where he was serving life, an inquest has heard. The monster, jailed for the murders of 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman at his Cambridgeshire home in 2002, was allegedly attacked in a recycling workshop at maximum-security HMP Frankland at around 9.30am on February 26. He died at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary hospital on March 7 having never regained consciousness from the assault. An inquest opening into his death in Crook, County Durham this morning heard that Huntley’s cause of death was ‘blunt head injury.’ After his death, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation's history, and our thoughts are with their families.' Frankland inmate Anthony Russell, 43, has been charged with Huntley’s murder. The attack was the third time Huntley had been targeted in jail. In 2010, his throat was slashed with a makeshift weapon and, in 2005 another inmate threw boiling water over him. This is a breaking news story.   Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.