Marcus Johnstone, solicitor and managing director of PCD Solicitors, has provided expert comment to press outlets including The Guardian, The Sun, The Evening Standard, The Daily Express, The Mirror and The Daily Star following the murders of Ian Huntley and Ian Watkins.
Huntley, who was convicted of the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002, was killed in an attack by fellow inmates at HMP Frankland in Durham in February 2026.
Watkins, a former singer in the band Lost Prophets, was convicted of multiple serious child sexual offences in 2013, and was murdered by two prisoners at HMP Wakefield in October 2025.
As a criminal defence solicitor specialising in sexual offences, Marcus routinely advises individuals convicted of serious sexual crimes in prisons across the country, including HMP Wakefield and HMP Frankland. He was formerly the head of prison law at a national criminal defence firm in Manchester, advising prisoners convicted of serious offences including murder, organised crime, rape, and child sexual offences.
Speaking about his own experiences working with vulnerable and high-profile prisoners, Marcus said that ‘having worked with prisoners convicted of very serious offences for over 20 years’, he has ‘seen the ways prisons work and just how vulnerable these inmates are to attacks from fellow offenders.’
‘Movement around the prison – even attending for legal visits – can place such a prisoner at an increased risk of attack. It is no exaggeration to say that most convicted sex offenders live their lives in fear of attack,’ he added.
Discussing his work with famous prisoner Charles ‘Bronson’ Salvador, Marcus said that prisons also ‘institutionalise’ inmates, making it much harder for them to be rehabilitated.
You can access and read Marcus’ interviews by visiting our press and media portal.
