LONDON (Reuters) - Ian Huntley, the man convicted of the murder of schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, was found unconscious in his prison cell in northern England on Tuesday after a suspected drug overdose, the Home Office said.

"Resuscitation was attempted and an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital," a spokeswoman said. "He is under heavy sedation while receiving treatment for what is believed to be an overdose."

In one of the country's highest profile murder cases, Huntley was convicted in December 2003 and sentenced to life in jail for the murder of the 10-year-olds in the Cambridgeshire village of Soham in August 2002.

A picture of Holly and Jessica wearing matching red Manchester United soccer shirts, taken just hours before they vanished, was plastered across media all over Britain and around the world.

An inquiry into the murders found that Huntley had managed to get a job as a caretaker at the local school despite being a suspected sex offender. Police had failed to vet him properly.

Huntley was told by the High Court he should spend at least 40 years in jail for the gruesome murders in which he lured the two girls to his house, killed them and then dumped their naked bodies in a ditch.

Huntley attempted suicide in June 2003 while he was awaiting trial. Media reports said he saved up 29 anti-depressant pills and was found suffering a fit on the floor of his cell.

This is cache, read story here