Ian Huntley 'so close to death' medics had to make 1 quick call to save him
The murderer is in a serious condition after a brutal prison attack left him close to death.
Ian Huntley was left fighting for his life after an inmate allegedly attacked him with a metal pole at Frankland Prison in Durham, forcing medics to make split-second decisions to save him.
The 52-year-old, serving a life sentence for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, was so critically injured that he had to be transported by road rather than air to hospital. Paramedics and a doctor had flown to the prison via helicopter to stabilise him on-site before placing him in an induced coma.
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“He was placed in an induced coma because he was so close to death,” a source said. “The team from the helicopter travelled with him, but he could not be evacuated by air in case of any complications.
He was transported by road because he was in a coma; this helps to keep him stable.”
Huntley was moved in a high-security ambulance with two prison guards and an armed officer escorting him at the front and rear. He was taken on a 19-mile journey to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, where medics continued treatment en route. The air ambulance then collected the medical team at the hospital to continue care.
A source told the Mirror: “Medical staff must be professional no matter who they are dealing with. With a high-profile prisoner like Huntley, the patient’s name is not released before arrival at the jail.
"Once the medical staff get there, they may recognise the patient but must put that to the back of their minds.”
Durham Police confirmed that Huntley remains in a serious condition. “The 52-year-old man remains in hospital in a serious condition. There have been no changes overnight,” the force said.
The attack is reportedly Huntley’s third in 24 years of incarceration. Before the assault, he had grown paranoid that fellow inmates were trying to poison him and had refused prison meals, instead buying fast food and sweets from the prison shop. An insider said, “He knew that he was a target. That is why he was so paranoid about his food.”
The suspect in the latest attack has not been officially confirmed, but reports name triple killer Anthony Russell as the alleged assailant.
Huntley’s violent history in prison includes previous assaults, including being scalded with boiling water at HMP Wakefield in 2005 and slashed across the neck by robber Damien Fowkes at Frankland in 2010.
Huntley was convicted in December 2003 at the Old Bailey for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who disappeared in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002. His former girlfriend, Maxine Carr, was jailed for conspiring to pervert the course of justice and later released in 2004 under a new identity.
Authorities continue to monitor Huntley’s condition closely as he remains under armed guard in hospital.
