British murderer found unconscious in cell

LONDON, Sep 5 (Reuters) A man convicted of killing two 10-year-old schoolgirls in one of Britain's highest profile murder cases has been found unconscious in his prison cell after a suspected drug overdose, the Home Office said today.

Ian Huntley was convicted in December 2003 of the double murder of schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells in the Cambridgeshire village of Soham in August 2002 and sentenced to life in jail.

An inquiry into the murders found that Huntley had managed to get a job as a caretaker at the local school despite being a suspected sex offender. He lured the two girls to his house, killed them and then dumped their naked bodies in a ditch.

A Home Office said Huntley, who was in Wakefield prison in west Yorkshire, northern England, had been taken to hospital. ''He is under heavy sedation while receiving treatment for what is believed to be an overdose,'' he said.

Huntley attempted suicide in June 2003 while he was awaiting trial. Media reports said he saved up 29 anti-depressant pills and was found suffering a fit on the floor of his cell.

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