A convicted killer has been charged with the attempted murder of a rapist refugee inside one of Britain’s most notorious prisons.
Duncan Heaton, 52, is accused of trying to kill Andong Abong Ashu, an NHS scientist who was granted asylum in the UK before being jailed for raping a young girl during sham medical examinations.
The alleged attack took place at HMP Full Sutton, the maximum-security jail near York, which houses some of the country’s most dangerous and reviled offenders.
Ashu, 55, originally from Cameroon, arrived in the UK in 2002 and was later granted asylum.
He went on to obtain a university degree and secured work in NHS laboratories.
In 2016, he was jailed for 21 years after a jury convicted him of four counts of rape and seven other sexual assaults against a girl in Hull, East Yorkshire.
Jurors heard he launched the abuse when the victim was just 11, using fake medical examinations as a pretext.
At his sentencing, Judge Jeremy Richardson described ‘calculating and cruel’ Ashu as a ‘depraved individual who visited appalling debauchery upon [the victim].’
Ashu was jailed at Full Sutton – a category A security prison housing around 600 inmates – when he was allegedly attacked by Heaton in May 2024.
Details of the incident have only now publicly emerged following his first appearance at Hull magistrates’ court last week.
Heaton, who is now being held in HMP Wakefield, entered no pleas.
He was remanded in custody and is due to appear before Hull Crown Court on February 12.
HMP Full Sutton has been the scene of notorious violence behind bars – including the murder of paedophile Richard Huckle, who was serving 22 life sentences for abusing 200 Malaysian children.
The 33-year-old sex offender died after a 78-minute attack by psychopath Paul Fitzgerald, 30, in his cell in October 2019. Huckle was tied up, raped and assaulted with various weapons before being strangled with an electrical cord.
The prison has also housed a string of depraved criminals over the years, including serial killer Dennis Nilsen, police murderer Dale Cregan and road rage killer Kenneth Noye.
Those currently serving time at Full Sutton include terrorist Hashem Abedi, the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi, and former Met Police serial rapist David Carrick.
