Soham jury told of ‘strong smell’ in Huntley’s car
The car belonging to Soham murder suspect Ian Huntley “smelt strongly” in the days after Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman disappeared, the Old Bailey heard today.
Jonathan Butler, the assistant caretaker at Soham Village College since October 2001 told the court that Mr Huntley’s car had smelt strongly of “body filler” in the days after the girls’ disappearance.
He said he had ridden in Mr Huntley’s red Ford Fiesta shortly before the girls were reported missing and the car had not smelt unusual. However, in the days after Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman went missing, Mr Butler said the car smelt “sweet” and the odour “gets in the back of your throat”. He said they had to drive with the windows open.
Mr Butler, 18, said he arrived at the college for work shortly before 08:00 BST the day after the girls went missing and spoke to Mr Huntley in the caretaker’s office.
“He asked me if I knew anything about two missing girls – that was the first I heard of it.”
Mr Huntley denies murdering ten-year-old schoolfriends Holly and Jessica in August last year.
The two girls went missing on August 4th from their hometown of Soham in Cambridgeshire. Their bodies were discovered in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, almost two weeks later.
Mr Huntley’s former girlfriend Maxine Carr, 26, denies attempting to pervert the course of justice and assisting an offender.
