Huntley, 52, was left fighting for his life after being bludgeoned by another inmate at HMP Frankland.
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The attacker who bludgeoned child-killer Ian Huntley with a spiked metal pole in jail allegedly boasted, “I’ve done it, I’ve done it. I’ve killed him, I’ve killed him.”
Huntley was left 'lying in a pool of blood' after being battered unconscious in a brutal jail attack.
The murderer, 52, was left fighting for his life after being attacked at HMP Frankland in County Durham at around 9am on Thursday.
Sources told The Sun that Huntley was air-lifted to hospital from his prison wing and his condition was "touch and go”.
A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said this evening that a prisoner in his mid-40s has been identified as a suspect and remains in detention within HMP Frankland.
The force said: "The 52-year-old prisoner who was injured during this morning's assault in the workshop at HMP Frankland remains in a serious condition in hospital following treatment for head injuries.
"Police forensic teams have examined the scene of the attack throughout the day to gather evidence.
"A suspect, a male prisoner in his mid-40s, has been identified by officers investigating the incident. He has not been arrested at this stage but remains in detention within the prison."
He has been attacked behind bars at least three times since he was sentenced to serve life for the murders of 10-year-old Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002.
In 2018, a violent convict tried to slit Huntley's throat, eight years after armed robber Damien Fowkes slashed his throat and put him in hospital.
Murderer Mark Hobson also threw boiling water over him in Wakefield Prison in 2005.
Discussing the latest attack, a Prison Service spokesperson said: "A prisoner is receiving treatment after an incident at HMP Frankland on Thursday morning.
"It would be inappropriate to comment further while police investigate."
School friends Holly and Jessica vanished after leaving a family barbecue in Soham, Cambridgeshire, to go and buy some sweets.
They were lured into the home of school caretaker Huntley, who murdered them before disposing of their bodies in a ditch.
Following a widespread police search, their bodies were found a week later near an airbase, 12 miles from Soham.
Suspicions were raised about Huntley after he gave detailed interviews to the press about the girls, and he appeared to take an unusual interest in the case.
His chilling responses to questions led journalists to raise concerns with the police.
Huntley was convicted in 2003 after pleading not guilty.
His then fiancee Maxine Carr, a teaching assistant at Holly and Jessica's school in the Cambridgeshire town, was given a three-and-a-half year sentence for perverting the course of justice by giving Huntley a false alibi.
She infamously turned on Huntley as he sat in the dock during his murder trial, describing him as “that thing in the box”.
She was granted a lifelong anonymity order in 2005, which protects her new identity indefinitely.