Soham Murderer May Drop Claim



The Soham murderer Ian Huntley should not pursue his claim for compensation against the prison service after an inmate slashed his throat, according to victims campaigners. The murderer who is a previous school caretaker has a pending compensation claim against the service as the service failed to fulfil its duty of care towards him over the incident. Many people have labelled the compensation claim disgusting and that the claim should also be thrown out. In 2002, Huntley hit the headlines after he murdered 10 year olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. It appears that Huntley may be set to receive 20,000 in compensation if the claim for negligence is successful. Norman Brennan the founder of the Victims of Crime Trust has stated, If Huntley had the slightest remorse for the terrible murder of these two girls he would drop the case immediately and get on with serving his sentence, and just be thankful its not pre-1967 when he may well have been sentenced to the hangmans noose. Many other people have also spoken out at how ridiculous the compensation culture in Britain is, with many stating that the system should be overhauled majorly. In 2005 Huntley was being held at Wakefield Prison and was scalded by boiling water, at the time of the attack he was being held in the health care wing. In 2008, Huntley was transferred to HMP Frankland, a Category A high security mens prison. Whilst being held at this prison, Huntley was attacked and slashed across the throat by another inmate; he used a razor blade as a weapon. Huntley is believed to have attempted to commit suicide three times since he was convicted in December 2003.