His explanation for this was that he wanted to convey to the media the frustration and despair the community was feeling. The reason for this decision had been that both bodies were too extensively decomposed and damaged by fire to enable a conclusive determination of either the actual cause of death or if either girl had been subjected to a sexual assault. Thu 24 Jun 2004 07.35 EDT. He was regarded as a loner, an oddball and an attention seeker by his peers, and became a target for bullies. [140] He further claimed Chapman had witnessed this accident and began repeatedly screaming, "You pushed her! I'm going to be inside forever, and it'll be torture. Discussing Huntley's mindset, Leslie Chapman opined: "I think he was a time bomb waiting to go off and both our girls were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then we could have stopped them, or done something about it. [162] The bullying Huntley endured escalated when he entered Healing Comprehensive School aged 11, resulting in his academic performance waning. Huntley's parents enrolled their son in Immingham Comprehensive at age 13. These disclosures revealed that not only had police failed to pursue numerous previous criminal complaints of sexual offences against underage girls and young women by Huntley, but he had then secured a job in Soham allowing him access to children. The evidence and artefacts were not made public at the time, but the items recovered from the school grounds included items of clothing the girls had been wearing when last seen; their charred and cut Manchester United shirts were recovered from a bin in a hangar at Huntley's place of work. Both girls had been missing for thirteen days when their bodies were found, and their corpses were in an advanced state of decomposition. [202] Noting how Carr often became flirtatious when she consumed alcohol, Huntley sought to minimise any opportunity for her to drink or otherwise socialise outside his presence for fear of her cheating on him with other males. The procedures of the CRB were tightened following the Soham murders trial. [9], Following several weeks of mistreatment, Huntley's wife announced her intention to leave him. Each provided witness statements before being placed in a safe house in the village of Histon. [123] He was transferred to a segregation unit at Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. [12] Huntley evidently lured the girls into his house, stating that his girlfriend, Maxine Carrthe girls' teaching assistant at St Andrew's Primary Schoolwas also in the house; she was in fact visiting her mother in Grimsby, Lincolnshire. He hasn't done it! Chapman was described as being tanned, with shoulder-length, brown hair; Wells was described as being fair, with blonde hair. [31], On 8 August,[32] CCTV footage of the girls, recorded minutes before their disappearance, was released to the public. Referencing Carr's conscious efforts to deceive the police and media alike, Latham stated: "She had the prospect of marriage, a baby, a nice home and a new start. His activities with this youth organisation fuelled an interest he had held since childhood for aeroplanes, and he seriously considered a future career with the Royal Air Force. Huntley was later transferred to London's Belmarsh prison. 0 Less than a minute Less than a minute [39][n 3] The community held a candlelight vigil on 7 August. [216], Huntley was transferred from Wakefield prison to Frankland prison on 23 January 2008. "[45] A young woman named Karen Greenwood also reported seeing the girls walking "arm in arm" along College Road about two minutes later. Investigators would later determine Wells and Chapman had most likely been attackedand possibly murderedin the dining room of College Close. [228] At the time, Carr was one of four former prisoners in the UK to be given a new identity upon release. The checks were introduced after Ian Huntley secured a job as a school caretaker - despite having been investigated by police over allegations of rape and underage sex. He further elaborated that a deciding factor to dispose of the bodies in this particular location had been that RAF Lakenheath was just two miles from the home of his disabled grandmother, and that if eyewitnesses spotted his vehicle, he could falsely claim his purpose for being in this vicinity had been his decision to visit his grandmother. the Internet, technology, civil rights, education, open access, copyright, economics, security, media, politics, environment and society The thing is though Huntley had never been convicted of any offence before the Soham murders. [146], On 10 December, counsel for both prosecution and defence delivered their closing arguments to the jury. [92] Carr also displayed a thank-you card to this reporter which had recently been given to her by Wells on the last day of the school year. That's probably because it was high-profile cases such as the Soham murders which led to the creation of the Disclosure and Barring Service about a decade ago. By the time his state of panic had waned, it had been too late to save the lives of either of the children[50] and that his first coherent memory had been of sitting on his vomit-stained landing close to Chapman's body. The Vetting and Barring Scheme is a national scheme for checking the suitability of those who work with children and vulnerable adults. Shortly before the two returned to College Close,[58] a neighbour of Carr's mother named Marion Clift saw the couple standing at the rear of the vehicle, with the boot open. While returning to 4 Redhouse Gardens,[11] Wells and Chapman walked past the College Close home of Ian Huntley, the senior caretaker at the local secondary school. Both services were held at St Andrew's parish church and officiated by Tim Alban Jones, and the girls were buried in adjacent graves in Soham's Fordham Road Cemetery, following ceremonies attended by only family and close friends. "[28], Suspecting the children had been kidnapped, investigators questioned every registered sex offender in Cambridgeshire and neighbouring Lincolnshire. He admitted engaging in sex with the claimant, but claimed the act had been consensual. [118] Carr only severed contact with Huntley in December 2002. [37] Other family members and friends of both girls also appealed via the media for the safe return of the children. Each of these girls was at least one year younger than himself; none of these relationships lasted longer than a few weeks. [22] These officers conducted extensive house-to-house enquiries across Soham;[23] their efforts to search local terrain were supported by hundreds of local volunteers[24] and, later, some United States Air Force personnel stationed at nearby airbases. She had shunned the company of boys as a child, but as a teenager cravedbut seldom receivedthe attention of boys her age, occasionally leading to bouts of binge eating[190] in addition to her developing the habit of self-harming. A single police officer searched his house on 5 August; no incriminating evidence was discovered, but the officer noticed numerous items of clothing on the washing line despite the fact it had been raining. A physical description of each girl was also released to the media, describing them as being white, about 4ft 6in (137cm) tall, and slim. Shortly thereafter, she briefly worked as a junior care assistant at a care home for the elderly in Grimsby, then returned to work alongside her mother as a labourer at Bluecrest fish processing plant. Alarmed, she and her husband, Kevin, searched the house and nearby streets. Carr further testified to having noted a crack in the enamel of the bathtub which had not been there when she had travelled to Grimsby four days previously. "[109] According to Carr, Huntley then informed her the children had entered their home in order that Wells could stanch her nosebleed. [224] Following Huntley's admission of guilt, this victim issued a press statement in which she confessed to feeling "a massive sense of relief", but concluded this statement with the sentence: "Yet, I still feel upset that Huntley was left at large, resulting in the deaths of two innocent children. Minutes after their daughter's 8:30p.m. curfew had expired, Nicola Wells phoned the Chapman residence to ask if the girls were there, only to learn Leslie and Sharon Chapman were worried that their youngest daughter had not returned home. . [9], The final criminal allegation against Huntley prior to the Soham murders dates from July 1999. Get back in the van! [133] Latham then closed his statement by again bringing the jury's attention to Huntley's claim that both deaths had been accidental, remarking, "We pose this question: Two of them?" [192] This employment was initially voluntary work, but Carr later became a teaching assistant in the school's Year 5 class. 7. [110] She had therefore later agreed to concoct a false story with her partner to support his version of events. [159] The Huntley family were working class and at the time of the birth of their first child, lodged with Lynda's parents in Grimsby. The murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman shocked the nation and changed the course of British policing. [24] Weeping, Huntley admitted responsibility for both deaths, but repeated his insistence that both deaths had been accidental. There is a high level of public awareness about DBS checks, and most . [222] It is believed Huntley had agreed to make this recording for a fellow prisoner (who had hoped to later sell the confession to the media after his release), in return for being provided with the antidepressants he had used to attempt suicide. [192], In 1993, Capp finished her schooling, having obtained no qualifications. [112], By 20 August, investigators had established sufficient physical evidence from Huntley's home, vehicle and Soham Village College to charge him with two counts of murder. In an effort to lose weight, she developed a habit of forcing herself to vomit after eating. This footage depicted them arriving at the local sports centre at 6:28p.m.[33][n 2] A televised reconstruction of the children's last known movements was broadcast nationally on 10 August,[35][36] and both sets of parents granted an interview with presenter Colin Baker on ITV's current affairs programme Tonight, which was broadcast on 12 August. [84] At the request of both families, the media refrained from reporting on either service. Mark Tuck informed investigators that as he had driven past the girls on Sand Street in Soham town centre at approximately 6:30p.m. on 4 August,[44] his attention had been drawn toward their Manchester United replica shirts, causing him to remark to his wife, Lucy: "Look! [174] Furthermore, both Huntley and Carr are known to have conducted affairs throughout their relationship. [96], Having participated in the search for the children, Huntley regularly asked police officers questions such as how their investigation was progressing and how long DNA evidence could survive before deteriorating. ", "Caretaker Charged With Murder of Two Girls and Sent to Rampton", "Holly and Jessica: Two Bodies Found in Woods", "The Whole Town is Weeping: A Community Dazed by Grief and Disbelief", "Chatroom Contact Dismissed as False Lead", "Reconstruction of Children's Walk Too Painful for Parents to Watch", "Walking in the Last Known Footsteps of Holly and Jessica", "Abduction of Six-year-old May be Linked to Missing Girls", "A Long Night Waiting for News That Never Came", "Countdown to Murder of 'Two Little Beckhams', "Soham Murders: Why did Ian Huntley Kill Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman? The previous barring lists (Protection of Children Act list, Protection of Vulnerable Adult list and List 99) were replaced in October 2009 by two . "[141] and that he had then accidentally suffocated her while attempting to stifle her screaming, which had preoccupied his attention as opposed to ensuring Wells did not drown. [241], The Bichard inquiry recommended a mandatory registration scheme for people working with children and vulnerable adults such as the elderly and mentally handicapped. [213], On 3 April 2004, the three-bedroomed house in College Close in which the murders occurred was demolished and the site levelled, with all rubble from the property being discarded in various undisclosed locations. This had included fibre evidence retrieved from Huntley's vehicle, clothes and carpets which had been a "precise match" to the Manchester United shirts the girls had been wearing at the time of their disappearance. On one occasion, he beat his wife so badly she suffered a miscarriage. Latham delivered his closing argument on behalf of the prosecution by describing Huntley and Carr as "accomplished liars"[143] before outlining the prosecution's case that both children had to die to satisfy Huntley's "selfish self-interest" before Huntleywith Carr's supporthad embarked on twelve days of "cynical deception", with Carr only revealing the truth to police after being informed of the discovery of the children's bodies. [10] Coroner David Morris testified the bodies of both girls were partially skeletonized, and that no precise cause of death could be determined for either of them. The findings also suggested a national system should be implemented for police forces to share intelligence information, and that all police forces should follow a clear code of practice on record-keeping. [235], Immediately after Huntley's conviction, previous criminal allegations against him were made public. This was supported by the headteacher of St Andrew's Primary School, who told reporters: "The possible danger from strangers is something we have impressed upon [the children] from an early age. [192], In February 1999, Huntley met 22-year-old Maxine Carr in a Grimsby nightclub. [154], Minutes after the convictions, the parents of both girls granted an interview to the media. "[225], Carr was released on probation from HM Prison Foston Hall on 14 May 2004 after serving a total of 21 months' imprisonment (including the 16 months she had been detained while on remand). 17 December 2003[151], Following the conclusion of both counsels' closing arguments, Mr Justice Moses announced the jury would begin their deliberations on 12 December. Although Mr Huntley made clear attempts to appear insane, I have no doubt that the man currently, and at the time of the murders, was both physically and mentally sound and therefore, if he is found guilty, carried out the murders totally aware of his actions. [125][126][6], At a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey on 16 June 2003, Huntley pleaded not guilty to the charges of murdering Wells and Chapman, and guilty to the charge both stood accused of: conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Latham stated neither body showed signs of compressive neck injuries, knife wounds, drugging or poisoning, and that both girls had most likely died of asphyxiation. [10] At 5:04p.m., a photograph of the two friends was taken by Wells' mother before the children ate dinner with the other house guests. He was employed before the establishment of the CRB. 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