More than 42,000 individuals have signed a petition urging the government to refrain from using public funds for the funeral of convicted murderer Ian Huntley. The petition, titled ‘Do not use public money to fund a funeral or memorial for Ian Huntley,’ garnered over 40,000 verified signatures in less than 48 hours after its launch on Sunday. Huntley, aged 52, passed away at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle following an attack with a metal bar at HMP Frankland on February 26.
Pressure has mounted on Justice Secretary David Lammy to prevent taxpayer or prison service funds from covering any funeral or memorial expenses for Huntley. A Ministry of Justice program traditionally allows for a contribution of up to £3,000 of public money towards funeral costs for deceased prisoners in custody. Additionally, prison guidelines include provisions for organizing a memorial service through the prison chaplaincy.
Huntley, a former school caretaker from Soham, Cambridgeshire, was serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both aged 10, in 2002.
Carly Batley, aged 47 from Deal in Kent, initiated the petition on Change.org and is urging the Ministry of Justice to waive the £3,000 contribution towards Huntley’s funeral, scrap any planned prison memorial service, and reassess the automatic application of death-in-custody provisions to individuals convicted of serious crimes against children.
Explaining her motivation for starting the petition, Batley stated, “There were so many missed opportunities with Huntley. He should never ever have been allowed anywhere near children. The system failed Holly and Jessica and their families, and they deserve better now.”
She further highlighted that even Huntley’s daughter, Samantha Bryan, believes he does not merit a funeral or a grave. Bryan expressed her opposition to using taxpayers’ money for any form of commemoration for Huntley, emphasizing that it would send a wrong message to the affected families and the public. She suggested that his ashes should be disposed of by flushing them down a toilet.
Former prison governor and criminal justice expert Ian Acheson asserted that Lammy holds the authority to override prison service policies, emphasizing that any mandatory memorial services could be overturned by the secretary of state.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed that the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman represented one of the most distressing cases in history. The tragic incident exposed significant flaws in police vetting and child protection procedures, revealing that Huntley had secured a job working with children despite prior complaints of serious offenses made against him to police in Humberside.
The Soham murders prompted extensive reforms in intelligence-sharing practices among police forces, leading to the establishment of the Bichard Inquiry initiated by then home secretary Lord Blunkett after Huntley’s conviction. The inquiry aimed to assess child protection procedures in Humberside Police and Cambridgeshire Constabulary, vetting practices, and information-sharing effectiveness since 1995. Sir Michael Bichard, who led the inquiry, highlighted numerous errors and shortcomings in record-keeping, vetting checks, and information-sharing within the involved agencies.
The inquiry’s findings prompted the creation of the Police National Database, launched in 2011 to consolidate intelligence from 43 forces in England and Wales, along with data from 150 computer systems.
