Ian Huntley was born in 1974 in Grimsby, Lincolnshire and was employed as a senior school caretaker at Soham Village College.

He lived in Soham, Cambridgeshire, with his girlfriend Maxine Carr, who was a teaching assistant.

Huntley was serving a life prison sentence for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who were both 10, in 2002.

He claimed during his trial at the Old Bailey in 2003 that the girls, wearing their Manchester United shirts, went inside his house because Holly had a nosebleed.

Holly Wells (left) and her best friend, Jessica Chapman, both 10 and who disappeared from Soham, Cambridgeshire, pictured in their Manchester United shirts (Image: PA/PA Wire)

Huntley said in his testimony that Holly drowned in the bath and that he killed Jessica as he tried to silence her screams, but jurors concluded he was lying.

The girls’ bodies had been found in a ditch near an airbase at Mildenhall in Suffolk after a two-week search.

Carr was Huntley's girlfriend at the time of the killings.

She was a teaching assistant at the girls’ school and served 21 months for perverting the course of justice for giving Huntley a false alibi.

She is now living under a new identity.

Ian Huntley sitting in his car outside his house (Image: Andrew Parsons/PA Wire)

What happened to Huntley in prison?

Huntley had survived previous attacks while serving his time behind bars.

On Thursday, February 26, the double child killer was brutally attacked in a workshop at HMP Frankland, in Durham.

According to reports, the 52-year-old was understood to have been declared blind after he was hit in the eyes and suffered brain trauma.

HMP Frankland, in Durham (Image: Tom Wilkinson/PA Wire)

A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: "Police forensic teams examined the scene of the attack throughout the day to gather evidence.

"A suspect, a male prisoner in his mid-40s, has been identified by officers investigating the incident.

"He has not been arrested at this stage but remains in detention within the prison."

His life support was switched off at lunchtime on Friday after brain tests showed he was in a vegetative state, The Sun reported, and he was confirmed dead on Saturday.

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