Prisoner charged with murder of Soham killer Ian Huntley

An inmate at HMP Frankland in County Durham has been charged with the murder of the child killer Ian Huntley, police have said.

Durham constabulary said Anthony Russell, 43, would appear before magistrates on Wednesday via video link.

Huntley, who murdered friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002, died in hospital on Saturday after he was attacked with a metal pole in a prison workshop on 26 February.

In a statement, the force said: “A man has been charged with murder following an incident at HMP Frankland in Durham.

“Emergency services were called to reports of an assault in the workshop on the morning of Thursday February 26. Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries but died on the morning of Saturday, March 7.

“Anthony Russell, 43, of HMP Frankland, has been charged with murder and will appear via video link at Newton Aycliffe magistrates court on Wednesday March 11.”