Infamous murderers and rapists are now "looking over their shoulders" as they've become prime targets for prison attacks after the death of sick child killer Ian Huntley. Huntley, 52, died after having his head caved in a vicious attack at HMP Frankland, in County Durham, last month. The high-security jail has been dubbed "Monster Mansion" because of the sheer volume of depraved inmates incarcerated there, including killer Met cop Wayne Couzens and twisted murderer Levi Bellfield.

Huntley's fellow inmate Anthony Russell, 43, appeared via video link from HMP Frankland at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday charged with the murder of the child killer. Huntley was serving a life sentence for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambs, in 2002. He was taken to hospital following the attack in the prison workshop on February 26 and died nine days later.

Now a prison source has said other high-profile killers like Huntley will fear "they could be next" as lags line up to claim a famous scalp on the inside. New targets could include Bellfield, who raped and murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler and former police officer Couzens, who abducted, raped and killed Sarah Everard in 2021.

The latter has been told it’s “only a matter of time” before he is seriously hurt and Bellfield has converted to Islam in an apparent bid to seek protection from Muslim prison gangs.

According to the Mirror, notorious inmates have been warned they could be slashed, beaten up, or "kettled" -have boiling water mixed with sugar thrown in their faces.

The prison source told the paper: "Couzens is already getting abuse and threats every day. You look at someone like him, murderer, rapist, and worst of all a copper, and you know it’s only a matter of time."

Frankland, in County Durham, has experienced a series of violent incidents recently. In April last year, Hashem Abedi, who was jailed for life for helping his brother carry out the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, allegedly attacked three prison officers with boiling liquid and an improvised weapon. He has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

The prison source said some inmates regarded themselves as "above Huntley both morally and in the prison food chain" which could encourage attacks on other notorious prisoners.

“Others will be thinking ‘how can I put myself on the map too’ That’s why in the days and weeks after an attack like this, things get extra dangerous," the source said. "High-profile inmates will want to stay in the cells or be looking over their shoulders thinking they could be next.”

Other inmates said to be at risk are Urfan Sharif, 43, who beat his 10-year-old daughter Sara to death, and David Fuller, 71, who was jailed for life in 2021 after sexually assaulting more than 100 female corpses in NHS hospital morgues.

The source added: “These people are hated both inside and outside of prison, but the difference inside is that you can earn kudos from other inmates by getting one over on them. You have to remember that prison life is incredibly boring. It's also hierarchical and a lot of these people have nothing to lose.”

At another high security prison, HMP Wakefield, paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, 48, died last October after being stabbed in the neck. Two men have been charged with his murder.

Weeks later at the same prison Kyle Bevan, 33, who had been jailed for life for murdering his partner’s two-year-old daughter, Lola James, was also killed in an alleged attack. Three fellow inmates have been charged with killing him.

The head of the Prison Governors’ Association has said prisoners like Huntley are facing increasingly violent attacks from inmates with “nothing to lose”.

Andrea Coomber, the chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said vulnerable prisoners, such as sex offenders and high-profile murderers, are often seen as easy targets.

She said: “There are hierarchies in every prison, and sex offenders are right at the bottom. We are hearing from many sex offenders that they are spending more time self-isolating in their cells because they do not feel safe.”

A spokesperson for the MoJ said: "This government inherited a prisons system in crisis, overcrowded and with significant staffing shortages.

"We are recruiting more officers and deploying them where they’re most needed, as well as investing £40m in new security measures to clamp down on the contraband that fuels violence behind bars."