Top News

Ian Huntley's remains will be cremated and the child killer will not have a funeral ceremony, a report states. Huntley's family will reportedly scatter his ashes in secret.

His relatives were offered a service funded by the state, but they are said to have refused out of respect for the families of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, The Sun reported on Sunday (March 22).

A source told The Sun: "There will be no service, no memorial, no mourners, nothing. It is as it should be."

They said Huntley would "simply be cremated" and his ashes handed to his family, who have "always been utterly appalled by what he did".

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, sparking a search involving hundreds of police officers.

He denied murdering the two 10-year-olds but was convicted after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2003.

The killer died aged 52 in hospital after being attacked in the workshop of HMP Frankland, Durham, on February 26.

Huntley's life support was switched off after brain tests showed he was in a vegetative state.

After his death, his daughter, Samantha Bryan, 27, told The Sun on Sunday his ashes should be flushed down a toilet.

She said: "He shouldn't have the dignity of a funeral and grave. I will not be going. A funeral is pointless for a man like him."

The prison service can provide up to £3,000 of taxpayers' money per inmate who dies in custody. It pays for a funeral and memorial service organised through the prison chaplaincy.

But reports Huntley could benefit from such a scheme sparked a public outcry. A petition seeking to block public money being used gained tens of thousands of signatures.

Durham Constabulary said earlier this month that Anthony Russell, 43, of HMP Frankland, had been charged with Huntley's murder.