Inmate appears in court charged with murder of Soham killer Ian Huntley

An inmate has appeared in court charged with the prison murder of Soham killer Ian Huntley.

Anthony Russell, 43, appeared by video-link for a five-minute hearing at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court, County Durham, on Wednesday afternoon.

Wearing a grey sweatshirt and sitting at a table, he spoke only to confirm his name and that he understood that he will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Thursday.

Russell is charged with a single offence of murdering the 52-year-old.

District Judge Steven Hood told him: “The offence of murder can only be heard in the crown court. Therefore I am sending this matter to Newcastle Crown Court and you will appear at Newcastle Crown Court tomorrow morning.

“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.”

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

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

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

Huntley 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.