Inmate who 'battered' Ian Huntley and left him 'fighting for his life' pictured

One source told the Daily Mail: "Huntley was working in waste management with other prisoners from Wing A, the segregated wing for prisoners who can't be in the normal jail population for their own protection.

"The other prisoner got a metal bar from the waste metal crates and smashed Huntley three times in the head with it. It was a very, very serious injury, having been struck on the skull like that".

A fight reportedly broke out between the two prisoners, before Russell swung at Huntley with the metal pole, hitting him with such force that "part of the bar was lodged inside of him".

Officers initially fearing that Huntley had died at the scene due to the extent of his injuries and concerns he was "not breathing", however paramedics managed to put him in a medically induced coma and transport him to hospital.

Huntley was" left lying in a pool of blood" on his prison wing and rushed to hospital after being targeted at around 9am, with reports claiming the killer’s condition was “touch and go”.

The 52-year-old, serving life in prison for the murder of two 10-year-old girls in 2002, was attacked while working in the waste management workshop at HMP Frankland, County Durham on Thursday morning.

Suspected attacker Russell was charged with the murder of Julie Williams and her son David Williams, as well as the rape and murder of pregnant Nicole McGregor near Leamington Spa in 2022.

West Midlands Police believed Mr Williams was strangled with a lanyard due to Russell's "mistaken belief that he was in a relationship with his girlfriend".

He then went on to kill Mr Williams' 58-year-old mother in an attack that inflicted 113 separate injuries, before later assaulting Ms McGregor, who was five months pregnant, just hours after she showed him a picture of her baby scan and then pretending to help Ms McGregor's partner look for her.

He is believed to be held under detention within the prison following the attack.

The beating at HMP Frankland comes after many previous attempts at Huntley's life for his vile crimes, including an incident in 2018 where a violent convict with a shank tried to slit his throat.

In 2010, armed robber Damien Fowkes also slashed Huntley’s throat in Frankland, putting him in hospital, with murderer Mark Hobson throwing boiling water over him in Wakefield Prison in 2005.

The Soham killer was convicted in 2003 after pleading not guilty for the murders of 10-year-old girls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

The 52-year-old carried out the double child killing in Cambridgeshire, where school caretaker Huntley lured the girls to his home and murdered them before disposing of their bodies in a ditch.

Police and residents rallied together in a huge search effort to find the children, failing to find the bodies until more than a week later near an airbase, 12 miles from Soham.

A Durham Constabulary spokesman said after the attack: "The 52-year-old prisoner who was injured during this morning's assault in the workshop at HMP Frankland remains in a serious condition in hospital following treatment for head injuries.

"Police forensic teams have examined the scene of the attack throughout the day to gather evidence.

"A suspect, a male prisoner in his mid-40s, has been identified by officers investigating the incident. He has not been arrested at this stage, but remains in detention within the prison".

One woman, who visited an inmate housed alongside Huntley, told the Daily Mail it looked like he had been "ripped apart like a rat" after the attack on Thursday.

She added: "He's in a bad, bad way. I shouldn't say it, but it's what he deserves".

In an updated statement issued earlier today, a Durham Constabulary spokesman said: “There has been no change in the 52-year-old man’s condition overnight – he remains in hospital in a serious condition”.