DOUBLE child killer Ian Huntley has died in hospital aged 52 after he was battered unconscious in a vicious jail attack.

Huntley was given just a five per cent chance of survival after a lag “split his head in two” with a metal pole at HMP Frankland, Co Durham, last week.

Evil child killer Ian Huntley pictured in 2003Credit: Shutterstock
 

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A helicopter was then seen at the hospital after Huntley was attackedCredit: NNP/The Sun
The Ministry of Justice confirmed he died at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary this morning – The Sun understands it was at around 8.45am.

A spokesperson added: “The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman remains one of the most shocking and devastating cases in our nation’s history, and our thoughts are with their families.”

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “A man who was attacked at HMP Frankland in Durham last week has died in hospital this morning.

“Ian Huntley, 52, was taken to hospital with serious injuries following an incident in the workshop on the morning of Thursday, February 26.

“A police investigation into the circumstances of the incident is ongoing.

“A file is being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration for charges.”

The lag – who was left lying in a pool of blood after the attack at a workshop on February 26 – was rushed to hospital and placed in an induced coma.

His attacker wielded a three-foot spiked metal pole and hit him up to 15 times as other inmates watched the frenzied assault unfold.

The Soham killer was bludgeoned from behind as he bent down to tie some string on a recycling crate.

Yesterday afternoon, at around lunchtime, The Sun revealed his life support machine was switched off after brain tests showed he was in a vegetative state.

His mother Lynda Richards, 71, was understood to have been at his bedside when medics withdrew the ventilator keeping him alive as his pitiful life slipped away.

Medics battled to save Huntley but, we can reveal, he had shown little sign of improvement after the attack which split his head open and left him blind, with severe skull damage and a broken jaw.

Security around him was downgraded on Tuesday when doctors realised Huntley would not be able to come out of his coma and survive.

Ian Huntley’s mum secretly visited him in hospital days before his passing, and told pals he was “unrecognisable” following the jail attack.

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School pals Holly and Jessica vanished after leaving a family barbecue in Soham to buy some sweetsCredit: Rex
 

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Double murderer Ian Huntley was bludgeoned with a spiked metal pole in jailCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 

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Huntley’s mum, Lynda, visited him in hospital days before he died
Lynda reportedly told friends “part of me hopes he passes away this time.”

She made the 175-mile car journey from her home to his bedside with a pal, where they were escorted by a Prison Service liaison officer.

Huntley’s mum told friends she “just wants to be free of it” and also told how she knows “flags will fly high” if he dies but she is “still his mother”.

Lynda and her friend were said to be shocked by the extent of his injuries, which included a broken jaw, severe brain injuries and skull fractures.

The Soham killer was serving life in HMP Frankland for the murders of 10-year-old friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

His attacker – understood to be triple killer and rapist Anthony Russell, 43 – bludgeoned Huntley with the pole, hitting as many as 15 times.

Sources said medics “worked miracles” to keep the fiend alive – with staff who saw him after the beating assuming he was already dead.

Although a helicopter was on the scene, he was placed in an induced coma and taken to hospital by road.

The double killer had been on a ventilator since the assault at HMP Frankland.

We told how after he was battered with the pole his attacker boasted: “I’ve done it! I’ve done it! I’ve killed him, I’ve killed him!”

Russell is suspected of carrying out the beating in a prison workshop.

A justice source previously told The Sun it was “miraculous” Huntley was still alive after the initial attack.

The source added: “When it first happened, he was totally unresponsive and could not breathe.

“Huntley never recovered from the battering and never stood much of a chance of doing so.

“His condition has not really improved since day one despite the best efforts of doctors.

“It looks like it’s only a matter of time.”

As Huntley lay in a coma his daughter Samantha Bryan, 27, said there was a “special place in hell waiting for him”.

In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, Samantha – whose mother Katie, 45, was in an abusive relationship with Huntley – added: “I think he got what he deserves. I hope he burns in hell.”

Huntley’s vile crimes had led to fellow inmates attacking him behind bars at least twice before.

In 2010 armed robber Damien Fowkes slashed Huntley’s throat in Frankland, putting him in hospital.

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Double murderer Huntley with his ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr and mum LyndaCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 

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Anthony Russell triple killer convicted of rape is understood to be behind the attackCredit: West Midlands Police
 

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The Sun’s front page
Murderer Mark Hobson threw boiling water over him in Wakefield Prison in 2005.

Huntley was being treated on a hospital ward with armed police standing guard and senior justice officials present after the latest attack.

A former prison officer, who guarded Huntley at Category A Frankland, said yesterday: “Everyone at Frankland will be celebrating his death.

“The staff hated him becuase of what he had done and his crimes.

“But they and the other prisoners also despised him because of his personality.

“He was so arrogant and also revelled in his notoriety.”

Evil Huntley was serving at least 40 years for the murders of Holly and Jessica in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002.

He lured them into the home he shared with Maxine Carr – their teaching assistant – after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets.

Huntley and Carr were arrested on August 17, 2002 – 13 days after the girls went missing.

Huntley denied the murders and put the girls’ families through a harrowing six-week trial at the Old Bailey from November 2003.

Months earlier, in June 2003, he had attempted suicide at Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

The fiend claimed at his trial that Holly suffered a nose bleed and fell into a bath, banging her head and drowning.

He said Jessica screamed so he put his hand over her mouth until she stopped.

Huntley was sent to Wakefield jail where in 2005 he was scalded with boiling water by another lag.

In September 2006 he tried to kill himself in his cell and was rushed to hospital.

He was transferred to Frankland in 2008. In 2010 he was he received non life-threatening injuries to his neck after his throat was slashed.

Carr, now 49, served 21 months for perverting justice after giving Huntley a false alibi. She now lives under a new identity.

An inquest into Huntley’s death is due to be opened and adjourned in the coming days

The brief hearing will confirm the date and time he died and the circumstances which led to it.

A full hearing will take place once the police investigation has concluded.

In the meantime, Huntley’s body will be returned to his family ahead of a funeral service which is likely to take place close to his former home in Grimsby.

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The killer was convicted in 2003, after pleading not guilty
 

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The front page of The Sun reporting on a previous attack in 2010Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 

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His then fiancée Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at Holly and Jessica’s school in the Cambridgeshire town, had given him a false alibiCredit: Reuters