‘My childhood friend lost everything to Ian Huntley’s “killer” – he is no hero’

Daniel Williams was left completely heartbroken after his mother and brother were both killed by Anthony Russell.

Within weeks, he was dead from a suspected suicide.

Now the man who wiped out his family is being paraded as a hero after he was named as the suspect in the killing of Ian Huntley.

Huntley, who was behind bars for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, was attacked inside a workshop at HMP Frankland last week.

He was bludgeoned in the head with a metal pole, leaving him ‘brain dead’ before dying from his injuries on Saturday, March 7.

Anthony Russell’s rampage

Anthony Russell was only in the same wing as Ian Huntley after killing three people and an unborn child.

On October 21, 2020, Russell murdered his friend David Williams after mistakenly believing he was in a relationship with his girlfriend.

He strangled him with a lanyard, before leaving the body under his bed in his flat in Coventry.

Mr Williams was discovered five days later, suffering 87 injuries.

Concerned his mother Julie would report him, Russell then strangled the 58-year-old in a horrific attack, which saw him inflict 113 separate injuries.

Russell raped and killed his final victim, 31-year-old Nicole McGregor on October 26, a few hours after fleeing police and arriving in Leamington Spa.

A court heard that Russell assaulted Ms McGregor, who was five months pregnant, just hours after she showed him a picture of her baby scan.

She was found in woodland at Newbold Comyn three days later with wood and twigs stuffed in her mouth. 

‘He felt guilty for not being there’

Daniel’s closest friend, Mr Melladay, told Metro: ‘We first met when we were 13 in Moorfields children’s home together.

‘We were the same age. He has always been a good guy. People called him “Stiffy” because he was just freakishly strong. He would do anything for anyone, really humble and genuinely nice.

‘We teamed up. When we got out of the children’s home, we stuck together, living in each other’s pockets for years. He was a friend for life. We were bonded through the hard times. He has always been in my neighbourhood in Derby.

‘He always told me how, when he was taken into care, the police had to be called because his mum didn’t want him to go. He was always sneaking back; he loved her.

‘His mum was the only real thing in his life. His mum and his brother. He had nothing apart from that unit. He had a very hard life.

‘Then I heard his mum had been killed, his brother had been killed and then Daniel killed himself. All at the same time. I was in shock.’

Hearing the news of the brutal slayings of his mother and elder brother, Daniel told friends he could have protected them.

The friend added: ‘I think Anthony Russell knew Daniel. They lived on the same road. Daniel was a protector so he must have blamed himself. He must have felt so guilty for not being there to protect them.

‘All he had was his mother. He would talk about just going there and being reunited with her.

‘It p***ed me off to see Anthony Russell’s face everywhere like he is a hero, with people saying give him a medal, all that. People are celebrating him, setting up GoFundMes – it is mad. I know Daniel would feel the same.

‘I was excited to see who killed Ian Huntley, like everyone else, but then I saw his face. Daniel would be heartbroken and disgusted with the adulation. Like I am.’

‘If he was there, no-one could touch his family. He didn’t look that big but he was so strong.

‘He felt guilty but he shouldn’t have. It was all Anthony Russell.

‘He only did it to be notorious. And everyone has done that to put him on this pedestal. His name should be in a black hole – an unknown man.’

As soon as I saw his name in the papers I knew it was him. People are celebrating him, setting up GoFundMes – it is mad.

‘Daniel was a family man, a good guy. He had a hard life and it was really sad end for him.

‘He came out of care, spent his 20s in shared houses, in and out of prison and then this happened to him. I just think the victims should be remembered in all this.’

Family plead: ‘He is as bad as Huntley’

Even Russell’s family have pleaded with people online to think of him as ‘the scumbag he is’, rather than a hero.

One close relative told the Daily Mail: ‘As far as we’re concerned, they’re as bad as each other.

‘Anthony is no hero for doing this. He committed a very bad crime himself – that’s why he’s on the same prison wing as Huntley.’

Huntley has faced a number of other attacks during his time inside jail, despite being segregated from the main population as a ‘vulnerable prisoner’ (VP).

VP status is given to ‘big names’ whose crimes dominated VP status is given to ‘big names’ whose crimes dominated the news, and those who committed serious sexual or terror offences.

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