Soham murderer Ian Huntley was left brain damaged after a gruesome attack at âMonster Mansionâ and now prison sources have given a chilling update on his final days

The double child killer has died nine days after being attacked(Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror)
When prison officers found Ian Huntley lying in a pool of his own blood, they assumed he was dead.
The killer, who left the nation reeling when he murdered two happy young girls in the quiet town of Soham, has died aged 52, nine days after a frenzied attack inside HMP Frankland, otherwise known as âMonster Mansionâ.
Surrounded by two armed officers and bleeping machines, he was severely brain damaged when he drew his last breaths on Saturday morning, with even his mother struggling to recognise him.
Huntleyâs skull was crushed with a metal pole at a prison workshop in a brutal beating, allegedly at the hands of a rapist triple killer. His wounds included brain injuries, skull fractures and a broken jaw.
âThe attack was unbelievably savage â more savage than has so far been reported. It is astonishing that Huntley is still alive,â a source said before his death. âHe was bending down tying some string onto a recycling crate when he was first hit â so was in a position like youâd be in when tying your shoelaces.â

The killerâs skull was crushed in the attack(Image: Shutterstock)
One woman visiting a prisoner housed alongside Huntley told the Sun that the attack saw him âripped apart like a ratâ. She added: âHeâs in a bad, bad way. I shouldnât say it, but itâs what he deserves.â
Medics âperformed miraclesâ to try and stablise the killer after the incident, and he was then placed in a medically induced coma in hospital and put on constant watch. A decision was made to cut off his life support machine on Friday night after a consultation with his mother Lydna Richards, and he died the following day. She is said to have told friends before his death that âitâs better if he doesnât pull throughâ.
Anthony Russell, the lag suspected to have delivered the brutal beating, reportedly shouted âIâve done it!â to other inmates as he was taken away in cuffs. On Saturday, cheers were heard echoing through the top security prison as news of Huntleyâs death spread around the cells.
Huntley was working in the segregated wing when he was smashed in the head with a metal bar produced from the recycling. In a chilling update, sources told The Sun that his inmates knew âthe attack was comingâ and had discussed it the night before.
âWhen it first happened, he was totally unresponsive and could not breathe,â another source said. âIt was absolute chaos, and Huntley was in a terrible state. Iâm amazed someone was able to get anywhere near him because he is usually really closely protected. They must have timed it when he wasnât with prison officers and must have used a weapon to injure him so severely.â
Huntleyâs fellow inmates arenât the only ones not in mourning. The killerâs daughter, Samantha Bryan, has expressed a profound sense of relief and said yesterday: âWe should flush his ashes down the toilet.â The beautician believes her beastly father does not deserve a funeral or a grave as he is going to âburn in hellâ.
Technically speaking, the decision to turn off Huntleyâs ventilator was meant to have been handed to Samantha. But as she never met him, and sees her father only as a monster, the burden appears to have fallen on his mother. Sources told The Sun that the decision was taken at around Friday lunchtime after brain tests revealed his condition. They also claimed his mum was by his bedside.
A source said: âThis is it, this is the end of Huntley. He is effectively dead and, at the best, is drawing his last breaths. No one who has dealt with him is shedding a tear. Even his mother has accepted that this is for the best, having seen him and knowing what a state he is in.â
Now, prison sources have reportedly the Daily Mail that the issue of Huntleyâs next of kin sparked a family âdisagreementâ.
As former Met superintendent Nusrit Mehab puts it to The Mirror, the formal proceedings after a prisonerâs demise can be somewhat complicated â depending on what their wishes were â if any â before their death.
âIf his family are the legal guardians, they can claim it. If heâs put somebody else in as a representative, or made a will, then they become the legal claimants, and if nobody comes forward, then it falls on the public health authority to do it,â she explained.



