Soham killer Ian Huntley seriously injured in prison attack

Soham killer Ian Huntley has suffered serious injuries after being attacked in high-security Frankland prison.

Durham Constabulary said a prisoner, understood to be Huntley, was assaulted on Thursday morning at HMP Frankland in County Durham before being rushed to hospital.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “A prisoner is receiving treatment after an incident at HMP Frankland on Thursday morning.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further while police investigate.”

Huntley killed 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4 2002. He then dumped their bodies in a ditch.

He is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for their murders.

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.

“A police investigation is now under way into the circumstances of the incident and detectives are liaising with staff at the prison”.

A North East Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We received a call at 9.23am on Thursday 26 February 2026 to reports of an incident at HM Prison Frankland in County Durham.

“We dispatched two ambulance crews to the scene and requested support from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS).

“One patient was transported to hospital by road.”

It is not the first time Huntley, 52, has been attacked at Frankland prison.

Using a home-made weapon, robber Damien Fowkes slashed him in 2010, causing a “severe gaping cut to the left side of his neck”. That wound was 7in (18cm) long and required 21 stitches.