Who was Richard Huckle?

A 33-year-old British man jailed for a series of sex crimes against children in Malaysia has been found stabbed to death in prison.

Richard Huckle, from Ashford, Kent, was given 22 life sentences in 2016 after confessing to an “unprecedented and exceptional” 71 charges of sex abuse of children aged between six months and 12 years. It is believed that he had abused as many as 200 children.

The Daily Mail says his “bloodied body was found ‘slumped’ in his top floor cell” at Full Sutton prison in North Yorkshire on Sunday afternoon.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Announcing an investigation into his death, Humberside Police said: “We were called shortly after 12.30pm reporting that a man had died at the prison.

“Humberside police are working closely with the Prison Service to investigate the death of an inmate and at this time we are treating the death as suspicious.”

Huckle’s years-long catalogue of abuse began when he was 19 and on a gap year teaching in south-east Asia. He posed as an English teacher and philanthropist in impoverished Christian communities in Kuala Lumpur to gain access to his victims.

He was arrested in December 2014 by officials from the National Crime Agency, acting on a tip-off from Australian authorities, as he arrived at Gatwick Airport on his way to spend Christmas with his family.

He originally faced 91 charges, but investigators believed the number of his victims was much higher because, says The Mirror, during his “campaign of terror against children” he kept a “sick ledger” awarding himself different points for 15 different levels of depravity on children, which he rated from “basic” to “hardcore”.

The Guardian says his offending seemed to be escalating at the time he was caught. His trial heard he wanted to create a “paedo Wiki guide” to help others abuse children.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues for £6–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––