Huntley may be sent to mental hospital after tests

DOUBLE murderer Ian Huntley will face psychiatric tests to see if he should be held in a secure mental hospital rather than jail.

Following his conviction for murder yesterday, he will be transported back to Belmarsh high security prison in south east London, where he was held during the trial.

Offenders whose crimes appear to defy logic such as his unexplained killings of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman have their mental state assessed by experts in the prison service.

This can lead to people who kill being transferred to high security mental hospitals, where they are detained in dangerous severe personality disorder units, or DSPDs. Huntley spent 50 days at one such hospital after his arrest because he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

However, psychiatrists told a court that he was not suffering from any mental illness and did not require hospital treatment.