Justice Minister denies state will pay £3,000 for Ian Huntley funeral

Huntley died in hospital on Saturday (March 7) when life support was switched off after being attacked by a fellow inmate at HMP Frankland nine days earlier.

Anthony Russell, 43, will appear before magistrates in Newton Aycliffe today (Wednesday, March 11) charged with Huntley's murder.

Meawhile there was fury over the suggestion taxpayers may have to foot a £3,000 bill on a funeral for Huntley, who was serving a life sentence for the 2002 murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

A change.org petition calling for no public money to be spent on a funeral or memorial for the killer received more than 40,000 signatures.

Speaking to LBC on Tuesday (March 10), Justice Minister Sarah Sackman said: “It’s a basic funeral. And this man, Ian Huntley, doesn’t deserve anything more than the absolute bare minimum.

“We’re not spending £3,000.

“That’s the maximum in our policy that it affords.

“But the key thing here is that we stand with those families. I don’t really want to be talking about Ian Huntley.

“What I’m only sorry about is that he’s no longer alive, rotting in prison, thinking about what he did to those two little girls.”

Russell will appear before Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday afternoon via a videolink.

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 10 miles away.

They were not found for 13 days, despite a search involving hundreds of police officers.

He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years.