A man shouted ‘I did it, I did it’ after Soham killer Ian Huntley was attacked in a maximum security prison, according to reports.
Durham Police said a prisoner, believed to be Huntley, was attacked in the HMP Frankland workshop near Durham on Thursday morning and taken to hospital.
The Sun, which first reported the attack, said the killer had been knocked unconscious with a metal pole and quoted a source as saying his condition was ‘touch and go’.
According to the newspaper, a man shouted “I did it, I did it” after the 52-year-old was hit six times.
Huntley was treated for head injuries and remains in serious condition in the hospital, police said Thursday afternoon.
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Police say an inmate in his mid-40s has been identified as a suspect in the attack.
A spokesperson for Durham Police said: ‘The 52-year-old prisoner injured during this morning’s attack at HMP Frankland’s workshop remains in a serious condition in hospital after being treated for head injuries.
“Forensic police teams spent the day investigating the scene of the attack to collect evidence.
“A suspect, a male inmate in his mid-40s, has been identified by officers investigating the incident.
‘He has not been arrested at this stage but remains in custody.’
Former caretaker Huntley murdered ten-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4, 2002, and then dumped their bodies in a ditch.
The Press Association understands Huntley was left in a pool of blood after the incident.
Thursday’s attack was the latest attempt on Huntley’s life and it was thought he was being closely monitored to prevent similar attacks.
He is serving a life sentence with a recommendation that he serve at least 40 years for the murders.
In 2010, robber Damien Fowkes slashed Huntley with a homemade weapon, leaving a “severe, gaping gash on the left side of his neck” with an 18cm wound that required 21 stitches.
Fowkes asked a prison guard: ‘Is he dead? I hope so.’
He described Huntley as a “notorious child murderer, both in prison and in society at large.”
Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi has been accused of carrying out ‘terrorist’ attacks on prison staff at the maximum security prison using hot oil and improvised weapons.
He denies three attempted murders after four officers were injured on April 12.
Former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after an alleged attack last October at HMP Wakefield, where he was serving a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences.
On Monday, Killamarsh killer Damien Bendall was given another life sentence after admitting the attempted murder of another Frankland inmate he attacked with a claw hammer in a prison workshop.
A prison officer who witnessed the attack thought Bendall, who killed his partner and three children with a hammer and is serving a life sentence, had killed his victim but he survived.
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