Prison officers in Frankland, Co Durham, have been instructed to play on the Nintendo Wii with convicted child murderer Ian Huntley, in order to stop him trying to kill himself.

Prison guards have also been instructed to call him ‘Ian’ to make him feel at home, because he’s tried to commit suicide three times since he was convicted in 2003 for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

The £179 console was given to Huntley because the Nintendo GameCube he had been given was ‘out of date’ according to Huntley. A prison officer stated:

Huntley has been asking for a Wii for months.

When he moved to Frankland in February he was given a Nintendo Game Cube - but after only a few weeks he began complaing it was out of date.

Management are desperate to stop him going though with threats he’s made to kill himself and by giving him a Wii they believe they can take his mind away from harming himself in any way.