The prison governor must offer up to £3,000 for his funeral service, which may cover the cost of a hearse, coffin, and cremation.
Ian Huntley died on Saturday (March 7) (Image: Toby Melville/PA Wire)
Soham murderer Ian Huntley could get a funeral and memorial service funded by the taxpayer after being killed in prison. The 52-year-old died on Saturday (March 7) after being attacked with a spiked metal pole at HMP Frankland in County Durham.
Huntley, who murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002, was fatally assaulted by a fellow inmate in a prison workshop. The attack left him blind and in a vegetative state, with medics taking the decision to switch off his life support alongside his mother, Lynda Richards, on Friday. Huntley is expected to be cremated at an undisclosed location, but prison governor Darren Finley will have to contribute money towards funeral costs.
The HMP Frankland governor must offer up to £3,000 for his funeral, the Daily Mail reports. He will also have to write a letter of condolence to Huntley’s family, despite the murderer’s daughter calling for his ashes to be “flushed down the toilet”.
The money will cover the costs of any service, including a hearse, coffin, and cremation fees. However, it will not be required if Huntley’s family decide against giving him a funeral.
Official protocol also requires a memorial service to be organised through the prison’s chaplaincy. Huntley’s family, fellow inmates and prison staff are invited to attend.
However, the murderer’s daughter, Samantha Bryan, previously told The Sun that he shouldn’t have a funeral. Ms Bryan, who never met her father, said: “He shouldn’t have the dignity of a funeral and grave. I will not be going. A funeral is pointless for a man like him.
Huntley murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002 (Image: PA)
“I don’t want there to ever be any possibility of freaks or weirdos going to a resting place or memorial, to show him some kind of twisted respect.”
Huntley died after being bludgeoned 15 times with a spiked metal pole. Anthony Russell, a 43-year-old triple killer and rapist, is suspected to have been behind the attack that took place in a prison workshop.
He allegedly boasted at the time: “I’ve done it! I’ve done it! I’ve killed him, I’ve killed him!” A source reported that Huntley’s head was “split in two” while his mother, who drove 175 miles from her home in Lincolnshire to be with him in hospital, told friends her son was unrecognisable after the attack.
Although they have a suspect, police have yet to make an arrest in connection with the prison attack. Durham Constabulary previously said: “A 52-year-old man remains in hospital in a serious condition.”
A Prison Service spokesperson added: “It would be inappropriate to comment while police investigate.”
