SOHAM fiend Ian Huntley will have no funeral — just a basic cremation before his ashes are scattered in secret by his family.
The Sun understands the double child-killer’s relatives declined the offer of a state-funded service out of respect for his victims’ families.
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A source said: “There will be no service, no memorial, no mourners, nothing. It is as it should be.”
Huntley, who was serving life for the 2002 murders of ten-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, died on March 7 aged 52 after being savagely attacked in jail.
Fears had been growing that the public would end up footing the bill for his funeral.
But the source said: “There will be no funeral. How could there be after what he did?
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“H”e will simply be cremated and his ashes handed to his family.
“They have always been utterly appalled by what he did.
“It was unforgivable and, for those reasons, they could not in good conscience hold a funeral.”
Under a Ministry of Justice scheme, the prison service can provide up to £3,000 of public money for any inmate who dies while in custody to pay for a funeral and memorial service organised through the jail chaplaincy.
The money is permitted to be paid directly to a funeral director and can only be used to cover reasonable costs including a simple coffin, hearse, as well as cremation or burial fees.
The Sun understands Huntley’s relatives decided any kind of funeral would be seen as inappropriate.
Instead they will scatter the fiend’s ashes at a location kept top-secret over fears of reprisals.
Following his death, daughter Samantha Bryan told The Sun on Sunday his ashes should be “flushed down the toilet”.
A petition protesting against the use of public money to fund a funeral for Huntley had attracted more than 55,000 signatures.
The state paid for Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe’s cremation in 2020, and a funeral for Cannock Chase child killer Raymond Morris in 2014.
Justice Minister Sarah Sackman said: “This man, Ian Huntley, doesn’t deserve anything more than the absolute bare minimum.
“We’re not spending £3,000. That’s the maximum in our policy that it affords.
“But the key thing here is that we stand with those families. I don’t really want to be talking about Ian Huntley.
“What I’m only sorry about is that he’s no longer alive, rotting in prison, thinking about what he did to those two little girls.”
An inquest into Huntley’s death will be opened and adjourned in due course, allowing for his body to be released for cremation.
The initial hearing will confirm the date and time he died and the circumstances which led to it.
A full inquest into his death will be held once criminal proceedings against his alleged killer, Anthony Russell, 43, are concluded.
Russell, who is serving a whole life term, has appeared in court accused of Huntley’s murder.
He allegedly attacked him with a 3ft spiked metal bar in the prison’s recycling workshop on February 26.
