Murder trial hears of Soham friends' final walk

Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were murdered when they "fell into the hands" of school caretaker Ian Huntley, a jury heard today.

Huntley then hid their bodies in the hope that they would never be found, the Old Bailey was told.

Prosecutor Richard Latham QC said the girls, both aged ten, were murdered by Huntley "for some reason known only to him" shortly after they left Holly's home in the village of Soham in Cambridgeshire in August last year.

Mr Latham was opening the prosecution case at the trial of Huntley, 29, and his former girlfriend Maxine Carr, who is accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and assisting an offender.

Huntley denies the double child murder but has pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Carr, 26, a former classroom assistant at the girls' primary school in Soham denies one charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and two charges of assisting an offender.

Mr Latham told the jury of seven women and five men: "The prosecution case is that these two girls fell into the hands of Huntley shortly after leaving home.

"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.

"We allege that he hid them in such a way that they would never be found.

"In this objective he was very nearly successful."

Outlining their final movements, Mr Latham told the jury: "At 6.15 in the evening of Sunday August 4 of last year two girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, left Holly's home and walked out onto the streets of the small Cambridgeshire town of Soham.

"They were good friends, they went to the same school, they were in the same class."

Mr Latham said: "Within the first few minutes of leaving, they (the girls) were seen by a number of people.

"It was of course still daylight.

"They didn't tell anyone they were going out.

"No doubt they felt secure and confident in an area where they felt familiar.

"They lived there, they went to school there, they would have thought they were surrounded by faces they knew."

The girls' vanished shortly after 6.30pm, Mr Latham said.

"Just under a fortnight later, in the early hours of Saturday August 17, Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr, who lived together at 5 College Close, were arrested on suspicion of the murder of the two girls."

The families of both girls were in court to hear the prosecution open its case and sat just a few feet from the dock.

Jessica's parents Sharon Chapman, 44, a classroom assistant at the school the girls attended, and Leslie, 52, sat with her elder sisters Rebecca and Alison, now aged 18 and 15.

Holly's older brother Oliver chose not to come to court but his parents Kevin Wells, 40, a contract cleaner, and his wife Nicola, 36, a legal secretary, sat near the Chapmans.

The disappearance of their daughters triggered one of the biggest manhunts ever seen in Britain.

The girls' remains were found 13 days later in an overgrown ditch in Lakenheath, Suffolk, on August 17.

Mr Latham alleged that Carr helped Huntley "devise a dishonest account of events in order to distance himself from what he had done".

The barrister said: "We do not suggest that Carr was in any way directly involved in the murders.

"Her part was to provide Huntley with support for a wholly dishonest account of his movements and actions during the critical period, the Sunday evening of August 4."

He said: "It was a calculated and cold blooded course... involving repeated lies throughout the period of the disappearance of the girls and her arrest."

The court heard the pair were arrested in the early hours of the Saturday morning and that, by chance, the same day three members of the public found the girls' remains.

Mr Latham said that maps and plans of Soham would be an important part of the case.

The jury would also be visiting Soham on Monday next week, he said, and would be taken on Tuesday to the spot near Lakenheath where the bodies were found.

The jury heard that the girls' teacher Joy Pederson at St Andrew's primary school in Soham regarded them as loyal, friendly, reliable and sensible.

"To use the words of Joy Pederson, their teacher, they would have kicked up a fuss if needed," Mr Latham said.

Carr took over as their temporary classroom assistant at the start of the summer term, he said.

Mrs Pederson said Carr had a "particular affinity" with Holly, but she worried that Carr sometimes struggled to keep the proper distance between herself and the pupils.

She had taken a temporary post but on July 23 her application for the permanent post had been unsuccessful

Afterwards, Holly gave her a card and a Celebration box of chocolates.

Mr Latham said Carr lived with Huntley in a two–storey, three–bedroom detached house which was part of the job package given to the site manager of Soham Village College.

Huntley took over that position on November 26, 2001, and the couple moved in a few months later after it was refurbished.

Mr Latham said: "That may well be important – major physical refurbishment of the house at the time they moved into it."

Mr Latham said that in August 2002 Huntley owned a red five–door Ford Fiesta, which the barrister said would be "one of the keys" to this case.

Mr Latham went on to describe the girls' movements on the night of Sunday August 4.

He said Jessica went to visit Holly at about 11.45am.

He said: "She left saying she was going to take a present to Holly which she bought for her while they were on holiday (in Minorca).

"The present was a necklace. It had a round circle containing the letter H and it was decorated with two dolphins.

"An important item."

The two girls played on Holly's computer with another school friend, Natalie Parr, who was collected by her mother some time between midday and 12.30pm.

In the afternoon, the girls donned identical red Manchester United football shirts belonging to Holly and her brother Oliver, then 12.

Soon after 6pm they left the house.

The barrister described the girls' suggested journey as "meandering" but also showed a series of points where witnesses claimed to have seen them.

Mr Latham said: "They stuck out, they were memorable. One of the witnesses, in a car, said 'look, two little Beckhams'.

"We suggest that when they were in the open they were seen. They stuck out, not least because of what they were wearing."

The jury was then shown CCTV footage of Holly and Jessica walking past the sports centre.

Mr Latham froze the footage at 18.28 and 30 seconds to show the two girls walking past four cars in the centre's car park. The barrister said: "We suggest (this time) is very, very important."

At around 6.33pm, a woman leaving the sports centre noticed two girls in the same red shirts with the word "Beckham" on the back walking on the footpath as they drove into College Road.

Mr Latham said: "As pedestrians, their route would have taken them right past 5 College Close, the home of the defendants.

"There wouldn't have been time to engage in any prolonged conversation with Huntley outside his house."

He said two other witnesses driving through College Road at 6.39pm did not see the girls.