Ian Huntley died from prison attack head injury
During a recent inquest, it was revealed that Ian Huntley, the convicted killer of two young girls from Soham, Cambridgeshire, succumbed to a head injury sustained during a violent attack in prison. The 52-year-old was assaulted multiple times with a metal bar at HMP Frankland in Durham on 26 February, and his death was confirmed nine days later at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.
County Durham and Darlington senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield stated that the further inquiry into Huntley’s death would be paused while criminal proceedings against the assailant were underway.
Anthony Russell, 43, has been charged with the murder of Huntley and is set to appear in Newcastle Crown Court on 24 April. According to documents shared with the coroner, the brief hearing in Crook, County Durham, detailed that Huntley was “struck over the head multiple times by another prisoner with an object described as a metal bar.”
The attack resulted in “significant head injuries,” which were cited as the cause of death by Dr. Jennifer Bolton, the forensic pathologist who conducted a post-mortem examination two days after the incident.
The schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, vanished after leaving a family barbecue in Soham in August 2002. It is believed they were en route to buy sweets when Huntley, then 28, lured them back to his residence and killed them. Their disappearance triggered widespread media attention and police appeals for clues.
Their bodies were discovered in a ditch approximately two weeks after they went missing, leading to national headlines and the pursuit of justice for their tragic deaths.
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