What was claimed
Ian Huntley has been found dead in his cell.
Our verdict
This is not true.
Ian Huntley has been found dead in his cell.
This is not true.
A post on Facebook, claiming that convicted murderer Ian Huntley has been found dead in his cell, has been shared over 7,000 times.
This is not true. There is no evidence Ian Huntley has died.
He is currently serving a minimum of 40 years in prison for the murder of ten year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002.
The post on Facebook also includes a link to the “full story”, which actually takes you to an Ebay listing of a book called “Beyond Evil”, about Huntley’s crimes.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because Ian Huntley is not dead and there is no evidence for this.
You’ve probably seen a surge in misleading and unsubstantiated medical advice since the Covid-19 outbreak. If followed, it can put lives at serious risk. We need your help to protect us all from false and harmful information.
We’ve seen people claiming to be health professionals, family members, and even the government – offering dangerous tips like drinking warm water or gargling to prevent infection. Neither of these will work.
The longer claims like these go unchecked, the more they are repeated and believed. It can put people’s health at serious risk, when our services are already under pressure.
Today, you have the opportunity to help save lives. Good information about Covid-19 could be the difference between someone taking the right precautions to protect themselves and their families, or not. Could you help protect us all from false and harmful information today?
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.