SOHAM killer Ian Huntley is “highly unlikely” to survive after being bludgeoned with a metal pole in prison.
The 52-year-old is currently serving a life sentence for murdering schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002.
After being battered with a spiked metal pole at HMP Frankland, Co Durham last week, Huntley is understood to have been declared blind and suffering brain trauma.
And he is not expected to regain consciousness, with a source telling The Sun: “It is now looking like he will not pull through, barring a miracle.”
Who is Ian Huntley’s daughter Samantha Bryan?
Samantha Bryan is the only child of Ian Huntley.
Her mother Katie Bryan had been in a relationship with Huntley when she was 15, becoming pregnant at 16, before leaving him for good.
Samantha, now 27, found out she was his daughter when she was 14 while taking part in a school crime project.
By chance, she stumbled across a pixilated internet picture of her and her mum in connection to Huntley.
From 2019, Samantha wrote to her father on multiple occasions asking to meet after learning of her relation to him.
Yet he rejected each request, before months later responding in a neatly written letter accusing Samantha of “insincere motives”.
However, he added: “You are still my daughter for whom I have much love.”
What has she said about Ian Huntley?
Upon finding out her Soham killer father had been attacked in prison, Samantha said she was “glad” to hear about the incident.
She compared Huntley to Fred and Rose West as well as the Yorkshire Ripper.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun on Sunday, Samantha said: “I started crying because I thought he was dead — it was an overwhelming sense of relief.
“Being his daughter has been a heavy burden. It felt like I could breathe again. I felt if he died, that burden died with him.”
As mentioned earlier, Huntley remains on life support and is not expected to regain consciousness.
On the attack, Samantha said: “It immediately had a very big impact on me. I got very emotional. There’s a special place in hell waiting for him.”
She also said last month how she had written another letter to her “monster” dad one last time, asking to meet and explaining it would help her process a lifetime of trauma that left her struggling with anxiety and depression.
She added: “When I first read Ian’s letter I was angry, frustrated and upset. He told me he loved me as his daughter.
“I felt, ‘you have no right to say that’. At the time it was so difficult to read. I felt so many emotions.
“All I could think about was how many times over the years he’s wished me well but he’s still denying that one thing that could really help me move forward.”
More than a decade on, she is still haunted “every day” by the murders, which shocked the nation and remain among the most notorious in British criminal history.
