Child killer Ian Huntley’s ‘awful’ future laid bare as he enters ‘crucial’ period
Ian Huntley was brutally attacked in HMP Frankland last week and remains in a critical condition, but experts have said that even if he survives, he may face long-term consequences of his injuries
Child killer Ian Huntley (Image: Toby Melville/PA Wire)
Soham child murderer Ian Huntley remains critically injured following a brutal prison assault — and experts are now providing insight into the potential consequences should he pull through. Huntley, 52, was battered repeatedly on the head with a metal bar while inside a workshop at HMP Frankland last week. He was reportedly discovered lying in a pool of his own blood after sustaining severe head injuries.
The killer suffered up to 15 blows and continues to receive treatment in an Intensive Care Unit following being placed in an induced coma. Speaking exclusively to this reporter, Dr Waqqas Jalil, a distinguished plastic surgeon, explained: “The first weeks of recovery are very crucial. It is essential to note that survival does not mean full recovery. The chances of full recovery depend on the extent of swelling, presence of bleeding, duration of unconsciousness, and the promptness of medical intervention.”
Dr Jalil, who established Aspect Plastic Surgery, outlined that Huntley being placed in an induced coma indicated a traumatic brain injury and stated that inducing a coma would have been the correct approach to stabilise the brain and minimise swelling. He warned that oxygen deprivation, haemorrhaging and pressure on the brain could result in irreversible damage.
Ian Huntley pictured in September 2006(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
Providing perspective on what Huntley’s existence might entail should he survive, he stated: “If he survives, some of the possible long-term effects of the injury include impaired cognition, memory loss, personality changes, impaired mobility, speech difficulties, and seizures. Some patients may require long-term neurorehabilitation. Others may require assistance with living, depending on the extent of injury.
“The standard of living for patients who have gone through such an experience is very variable. Some patients may regain full function of their bodies with therapy. Others may suffer permanent damage to the brain, affecting their ability to function normally.”
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We also heard from British Army veteran Rich Jones, who previously spent seven years imprisoned for conspiracy to supply cocaine. He outlined what Huntley might face should he survive the assault, with triple killer Anthony Russell named as the suspect
Rich Jones shared his insight (Image: the_lost_soldier_official/Instagram )
Rich described how certain prisons employ “trusted prisoners” within a wing who function as “built in carers” and “might be able to do things like tidy his cell and everything else”.
Yet he warned: “His life would just be awful, wouldn’t it? Because he is already going to be on VP (vulnerable person wing) and if he gets to the point where he can no longer function properly and he’s maybe bedbound or wheelchair bound, he may even end up getting moved to some kind of secure hospital, I don’t know.”
Should he eventually return to Frankland, something Rich considers a distinct possibility, he would remain under constant threat. He said: “His risk is not going to be of escape because he will be at a point where he is not even capable of walking around so that risk is reduced — but the risk is the risk to him by other people more than anything else.
“The chances are he will go back, depending on his recovery and how he is, he has already had two or three attacks on him before and he has still been in the same prison — so I don’t think that’s going to change anything. I think it really depends on the severity of his condition and how much or what degree of normality he still has.”
Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells(Image: ENTERPRISE NEWS AND PICTURES)
Huntley is a former caretaker who murdered Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both 10, in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002. He was handed a life sentence after dumping the bodies in a ditch.
One individual who has been incarcerated at HMP Frankland, like Huntley, is Ricky Killeen, who was sent there for his involvement in a machete attack. The reformed offender, who now shares insights on his Behind the Bars TV YouTube channel, told this publication about his recollections of the category A jail.