Ian Huntley 'to convert to Islam'

Ian Huntley, the killer of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, is considering converting to Islam, it has been claimed.

Huntley, 34, serving life at the maximum security Frankland Prison in County Durham, has started reading the Koran on a daily basis after befriending two Muslim inmates, according to The People.
The Soham killer is thought to have turned to the small group of Muslim inmates in Frankland after being threatened by other prisoners.

He has even asked them to take him to a prayer meeting after finding the passages of the Islamic holy book the Koran are helping his state of mind following three failed suicide attempts.
Only 20 of the 734 inmates in Frankland prison are Muslim. Hussain Osman, jailed for life for his part in the failed July 21 bombings, is one of Huntley’s more high-profile inmates.
A prison source said the former school caretaker lives in constant fear and feels he has something in common with the small Muslim population at Frankland, who also feel they face persistent harrassment.

Huntley’s flirtation with Islam comes just a month after a leaked Home Office report raised concerns that young male prisoners are being brainwashed by Muslim gangs and that the prison system is becoming a recruiting ground for Islamic extremists.
A number of high-profile al-Qaeda sympathisers have been moved as a result of increased tensions within the prison.
Dhiren Barot, an Islamic extremist jailed for planning a dirty bomb attack on British soil, was granted a move from the prison after being attacked with boiling oil, leaving him scarred for life.
Other high-profile inmates at Frankland include Colin Norris, the gay nurse convicted of murdering four elderly patients.

Huntley was transferred from Wakefield to the notorious Frankland prison in January. Last month it was revealed that he had been receiving special treatment to stop him attempting suicide.
Officers guarding Huntley were told to play games such as Scrabble and chess with him to “keep his spirits up.”
It was also claimed that guards were told to address him as Mr Huntley, or even simply 'Ian'.
Huntley was jailed for life in December 2003 for killing the two 10-year-old girls in Soham, Cambridgeshire.

His girlfriend, Maxine Carr, 31, served two years for providing him with a false alibi and now lives under a secret identity.