BRITAIN: Ian Huntley, the man charged with murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the two Soham schoolgirls found dead last August, was in a coma last night after an apparent suicide bid.
He was found having a fit in his cell in the early hours of yesterday after taking an overdose of anti-depressants. An investigation was launched immediately, focusing on the suspicion that Huntley (29), had stored up his medication for the overdose.
He became one of Britain's most infamous inmates when he was charged with the double murders. The former school caretaker had been on suicide watch since his last court appearance, when he denied the killings, and was understood to have been receiving medication for depression for some time.
He was discovered in his cell by officers at Woodhill prison near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. They had orders to check him every 15 minutes.
Mr Harry Fletcher, of the National Association of Probation Officers, said he had learned from sources that Huntley had overdosed on the anti-depressants, which he had accumulated and hidden in tea bags in his cell.
He was rushed to hospital by ambulance but was in a coma by the time he arrived, at about 4 a.m. Prison Service officials asked that the hospital not be identified for security reasons.
Mr Mark Leech, editor of the Prisons Handbook, said: "Even in a coma I wouldn't be surprised to find three officers around his bed and even him handcuffed.
"It's not only preventing him from escaping but it's also because of the uproar this case has caused." A report on the investigation is expected by Friday.
Mr Mark Freeman, deputy general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association, said a recent change in prison procedures could have given Huntley his chance. "This will no doubt be an embarrassment for the prison service and the government," he said. "They will be looking for someone to blame and the chances are that it will be some poor wing officers who unfortunately have been dispensing medication that, in our opinion, they are not medically trained to do." Officers have to hand out drugs after medical officers leave prisons at night, he said.