Never free our son, say child killer's parents

The parents of Soham murderer Ian Huntley are backing calls for their son to spend the rest of his life in prison, it was reported today.

Lynda Nixon and Kevin Huntley said they agreed with the UK's Lord Chancellor’s view that Huntley – currently serving a minimum 40-year term – should never be released

In a statement in The Sun newspaper, they said: “The prospect of him ever being released is unthinkable. The right place for our son is in jail.”

They also said: “We have never understood why our son committed such a terrible crime nor can we ever begin to forgive him. He knows that.

“We wholeheartedly agree with the comments made by the Lord Chancellor. We believe that a life sentence in his case should mean life and that he should always remain in custody.”

Last week Lord Falconer said the murderer of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman belonged to a class of killers who should never be released because of the “heinousness” of their crimes.

Eighteen months ago a judge ruled that Huntley should serve at least 40 years for the murders of the two 10-year-olds in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2002.

Mr Justice Moses said he had considered imposing a “whole life order” but decided not to because the crime could have been worse if there had been pre-planning and a “proven element of abduction”.

But Lord Falconer told a Sunday newspaper: “There will be some people who I think should stay in prison for the rest of their natural life.

“They should still stay in because the heinousness of their crime means that the public would expect that.”

He added: “It is extremely difficult to see circumstances in which Ian Huntley could ever be released.”