Soham girls ‘died in Huntley’s home’
Ian Huntley is unlikely to deny that Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died soon after entering his house, a jury at the Old Bailey heard today.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, told the court: “We understand from those representing Huntley it is unlikely to be disputed by Huntley that the girls went into his home shortly after 6.30pm that evening, that Huntley was the only other person there at the time and that they died within a short time of going inside his home.”
“We cannot call as part of the prosecution anyone who can tell you what happened there. There is now only one person alive who was there that evening,” he added.
He asked the jury to consider two questions about Mr Huntley. “One – is this a man who is thinking sensibly, a man who is in control of himself? Two – is this a man who is capable of telling convincing lies?”
He told the jury of seven women and five men earlier that the girls had left Holly’s home in Soham, Cambridgeshire, at 18:15 BST and were seen by a number of people within the first few minutes of leaving.
He said that the girls’ vanished shortly after 18:15 BST on August 4th 2002.
Mr Latham said the two schoolgirls ‘fell into the hands’ of Ian Huntley shortly after their disappearance.
“For some reason known only to him he chose to murder them both. We allege that he went on to remove the bodies from Soham,” Mr Latham said.
He told the court that he and his fellow prosecutors would seek to prove that the deaths of the two girls “amounted to murder”.
Mr Latham told the Old Bailey that Mr Huntley had been sighted on a footpath walking his dog, but there was an “important gap” in the sighting of the caretaker until about 01:00 BST. Additionally, his car was missing during this time.
Earlier, the court was told that the red five-door Ford Fiesta would be “one of the keys” to the case.
Police Sergeant Pauline Nelson, responsible for the initial police response and search, had noticed Mr Huntley in a crowd of people because a lot of people were helping to search for the girls, Mr Latham said.
Mr Latham said Mr Huntley had been around six feet away from Sergeant Nelson, where he could hear what was on her radio.
Mr Latham said earlier that there was no suggestion that Mr Huntley’s former girlfriend Maxine Carr had been directly involved in the murders. Ms Carr had been visiting her mother in Grimsby the day the girls disappeared, Mr Latham said.
The prosecution alleges she lied to the police about her and Ian Huntley’s whereabouts that weekend and only admitted to police she had been in Grimsby after her arrest.
Best friends Holly and Jessica’s bodies were found by three members of the public on August 17th in a ditch close to the RAF base at Lakenheath in Suffolk.
Former caretaker Mr Huntley, 29, has denied murdering the two ten-year-olds, but has pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
Ms Carr, 26, a former classroom assistant, has denied conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and assisting an offender.
The girls’ families – Kevin and Nicola Wells and Leslie and Sharon Chapman – attended the Old Bailey today, sitting just feet from Mr Huntley and Ms Carr in the dock.
The trial was adjourned until 10:30 GMT tomorrow
