Ian Huntley

The Home Office has slammed the "serious systems failures" which allowed Soham murder suspect Ian Huntley to mount a suicide bid.

Huntley, currently held in custody ahead of the trial for the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, was discovered in his cell following an overdose.

"I have made it clear to the director general that the conclusions of the report describe a completely unacceptable situation, that the lessons to be learned must be applied immediately and that the highest standards of supervision must be sustained from now on," said Home Office minister Paul Goggins.

Following an investigation by prison chiefs, the government says the measures put in place to protect the prisoner "concentrated more on protecting him from other prisoners than on the risk of self-harm".

"The Prison Service should have given equal importance to both risks," added Goggins.

"The arrangements for briefing staff supervising Mr Huntley and the arrangements for overall management oversight were not robust enough to combat complacency and conditioning."

In a written statement to MPs, the minister said the report found that the procedures for dispensing medication to Huntley "fell well short of acceptable standards and failed to take into account the risk of self-harm".

Following the suicide attempt, Goggins said Woodhill Prison had changed the procedures surrounding the inmate.

"I have made it clear that the safe custody of Mr Huntley is an absolute priority for the Prison Service and that revised arrangements for his supervision must reflect this," he added.

The Tories seized on the report saying it proved that "security in our prisons system is a complete shambles".

"Although we welcome the report's honesty, we remain concerned about whether its comprehensive recommendations will be implemented, especially in light of the apparent non-implementation of previous recommendations about prison suicides," said home affairs spokesman James Paice.

"Despite a government initiative announced two and a half years ago to reduce the number of suicides in prisons, they have actually increased by 29 per cent."