Man accused of murdering Ian Huntley may not be fit to stand trial

A man accused of murdering child killer Ian Huntley behind bars may not be fit to stand trial, an inquest heard.

Huntley, 52, passed away at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle nine days after being attacked at HMP Frankland in February 2026.

Huntley, who had been serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, died after being struck over the head multiple times with a metal bar.

Inmate Anthony Russell, 43, was charged with the murder and is next due to appear at court for a pre-trial preparation hearing on June 3.

Senior Coroner Jeremy Chipperfield adjourned the hearing until September 15 due to the ongoing criminal case against Russell.

Ex-school caretaker Huntley was incarcerated at the maximum security jail – dubbed Monster Mansion – for the deaths of Holly and Jessica in 2002.

He killed the best friends after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, and dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away.

They were not found for 13 days, despite a search involving hundreds of police officers.

At the time, Huntley lived with Maxine Carr, who was a teaching assistant at Holly and Jessica’s primary school.

He denied murdering the girls but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003. He was jailed for life with a recommended minimum term of 40 years.

Carr gave Huntley a false alibi and was jailed for 21 months for perverting the course of Justice.

She is now living under a new identity. While behind bars, Huntley was targeted multiple times by other prisoners.

In 2005, he had boiling water thrown over him at HMP Wakefield in North Yorkshire.

Five years after that, at HMP Frankland, his throat was slashed, leaving him with 21 stitches.

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