Man to appear in court charged with murdering Soham killer Ian Huntley

An inmate is to appear at a crown court accused of murdering Soham killer Ian Huntley in a prison attack.

Anthony Russell, 43, is charged with murdering the 52-year-old at HMP Frankland, near Durham.

On Thursday, he will appear at Teesside Crown Court in Middlesbrough for a preliminary hearing.

Huntley was reportedly attacked with a metal bar in a workshop at the maximum security jail on February 26.

He was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, where he died on Saturday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon, Russell appeared by video-link at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court.

During the five-minute hearing, Russell was told by District Judge Steven Hood that the offence of murder “can only be heard in the crown court”.

The judge told him: “The reason for that is because in matters such as murder, the magistrates’ court cannot consider anything other than a remand in custody, and the law states that a person must appear within 48 hours before a crown court.”

While it was initially said that Russell would appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday, court officials later clarified that he will appear before Teesside Crown Court.

Huntley was serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

The ex-school caretaker killed the best friends after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4 2002. He dumped their bodies in a ditch 10 miles away.

They were not found for 13 days despite a search involving hundreds of police officers.

At the time, Huntley lived with Maxine Carr who was a teaching assistant at Holly and Jessica’s primary school.

He denied murdering the girls but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003.

He was jailed for life with a recommended minimum term of 40 years.

Carr gave Huntley a false alibi and was jailed for 21 months for perverting the course of justice.

She is now living under a new identity.