Soham murderer Ian Huntley has rapidly shot up the TellYouGov leaderboard on volume this week, following news that he is suing the Prison Service for £100,000 in damages after an inmate slit his throat.
Huntley, who was found guilty of murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, claims that HM Prison Frankland, where he is currently interned, failed to prevent the attack on him, and in doing so fell short of its duty of care.
The claim has outraged TellYouGov users, or ‘tyggers’. Huntley’s sentiment score has dropped 43 points in the last 48 hours to an overall negative score of -46, while the volume score has increased 56 points, suggesting a strongly negative influx of comments.
One tygger has branded Huntley ‘a murderer who ‘should never receive compensation’, while another argues ‘in jail there should be no rights to protection - he offered none to his victims.’ This feeling has been echoed by various users, who argue that any money received by Huntley ought to be ‘given to his victims’ families’. Those tyggers who most vehemently oppose Huntley’s compensation claim have controversially called for the return of capital punishment, deeming his case ‘a good reason to bring back the death penalty’.
Prison security
Meanwhile, some tyggers feel that the issue has brought the issue of prison security and responsibility to the fore. One commented that ‘our legal system is biased towards the criminals’ rights not [those of the] victims’, while several state that ‘prisoners should forfeit their rights as citizens’ and that offenders’ human rights should be ‘severely curtailed’ while public money looks after them. However, one tygger contended that ‘we must expect prisoners to be safe from reprisals whilst in jail’.
The general topic of ‘Prisons’ is also displaying an increasingly negative sentiment score, dropping to -6 in the last 24 hours. The latest opinion relates to attacks in prison, and follows the general feeling in claiming that convicted killers should expect ‘rough justice’.
With ‘Ian Huntley’ continuing to attract strong comments, the sentiment score having steadied to -47, and the volume score remaining at 56 points during the last 24 hours, it looks likely that this issue, across all related topics, will continue to play out on the TellYouGov leaderboard for some time yet.
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