{"id":333005,"date":"2026-03-07T01:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/333005\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T01:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T01:54:10","slug":"soham-killer-ian-huntleys-life-support-machine-switched-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/333005\/","title":{"rendered":"Soham killer Ian Huntley\u2019s \u2018life-support machine switched off\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>England\u2019s Soham killer Ian Huntley\u2019s life-support machine has reportedly been switched off.<\/p>\n<p>The UK&#8217;s Sun newspaper said the 52-year-old suffered severe brain trauma in the attack at HMP Frankland, Durham, in England on February 26.<\/p>\n<p>The former school caretaker, who murdered 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, had been kept on life support in hospital after being hit repeatedly over the head by an inmate armed with a metal bar.<\/p>\n<p>Huntley\u2019s life support was switched off at lunchtime on Friday after brain tests showed he was in a vegetative state, The Sun reported.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" height=\"654\" width=\"640\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/soham-killer-ian-huntley-s-life-support-machine-switched-off.jpg\" alt=\"National Archives papers released\" data-title=\"National Archives papers released\" data-copyright-holder=\"PA Media\" data-copyright-notice=\"PA Media\" data-credit=\"Handout\" data-usage-terms=\"PICTURE DESK USE ONLY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO SALES. FILE PHOTO. HANDOUT\"\/>Holly Wells, left, and her best friend Jessica Chapman (Handout\/PA)<\/p>\n<p>The attack left Huntley blind, the newspaper said, and it quoted a source saying: \u201cHuntley never recovered from the battering and never stood much of a chance of doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Murderer and rapist Anthony Russell, 43, reportedly shouted \u201cI\u2019ve done it, I\u2019ve done it\u201d after Huntley was attacked in the recycling area of the prison.<\/p>\n<p>Durham Constabulary has not identified the suspect but it said on the day of the attack that a man in his mid-40s had been detained.<\/p>\n<p>After the attack, Huntley\u2019s only daughter Samantha Bryan, 27, told The Sun on Sunday of her father: \u201cThere\u2019s a special place in hell waiting for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Huntley murdered Holly and Jessica after they left a family barbecue to buy sweets in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4 2002. He dumped their bodies in a ditch.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"not-prose no-underline\" data-action=\"click\" data-category=\"Read more article clicked\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.breakingnews.ie\/world\/fbi-interviews-in-epstein-files-with-woman-who-made-claims-against-trump-released-1872065.html\" data-value=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breakingnews.ie\/world\/fbi-interviews-in-epstein-files-with-woman-who-made-claims-against-trump-released-1872065.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>        <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2260439909-e1772809761238.jpg\" class=\"rounded-sm object-contain bg-transparent z-10 w-full h-full not-prose\" alt=\"Epstein Files With Claims Against Trump Released\" width=\"278\" height=\"156\" \/><\/p>\n<p>        World<\/p>\n<p>Epstein files with claims against Trump released<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Russell was sentenced to a whole-life tariff in 2021 for the murders of Julie Williams, 58, and her son David Williams, 32, at separate flats in Coventry, and pregnant 31-year-old Nicole McGregor, who was found in woodland near Leamington Spa three days later.<\/p>\n<p>Russell also raped Ms McGregor.<\/p>\n<p>Huntley\u2019s life sentence recommended he serve at least 40 years for the Soham murders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"England\u2019s Soham killer Ian Huntley\u2019s life-support machine has reportedly been switched off. The UK&#8217;s Sun newspaper said the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-333005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}