Soham killer's 'throat slashed' by prisoner

Huntley was stabbed in Frankland Prison in County Durham, where he is serving two life sentences for murdering schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Reports suggested his throat had been slashed, but his condition is not believed to be life-threatening.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: "A prisoner was taken to an outside hospital for treatment."

Huntley was convicted of murdering the girls, who were both ten, in December 2003 after they vanished from their homes in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002.

Yesterday's assault is not the first time Huntley has been attacked in prison.

An inmate threw boiling water on him while he was on the health care wing at the high-security Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire in September 2005.

Huntley, 36, has tried to take his own life while in prison on three occasions.

Speaking on the subject of prison safety Colin Moses, from the Prison Officers' Association, said:

"We have more violent prisons than we've ever had before. We want to see action taken to safeguard staff, safeguard inmates and safeguard the public."

The murder of Holly and Jessica shocked and appalled the country during the summer of 2002.

Huntley was given two life terms after being convicted of the girls' murders.

His girlfriend Maxine Carr was jailed after being convicted of perverting the course of justice and has now been released.