Murdered girls' families leave town for anniversary of deaths

THE families of murdered Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman cannot face being there on the first anniversary of the deaths, police said yesterday.

Instead they plan to spend tomorrow away from the Cambridgeshire town and its memories.

On August 4 last year Holly and Jessica, both 10, vanished shortly after being seen walking near their homes. Their bodies were found in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, two weeks later. Police said yesterday: "The parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman will be spending the anniversary with their immediate families away from the Soham area.

"They wish to thank people for their kind thoughts and hope people appreciate their desire for privacy at this time." There are no plans for special services to mark the anniversary and police have urged people to stay away from Soham over the anniversary period.

Meanwhile the town's vicar Tim Alban Jones said the nation's reaction to the disappearance and murders of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman had showed that "goodness was stronger than evil". Soham's Methodist minister, the Rev Alan Ashton, has written a prayer to mark the anniversary, praying for "peace and justice" to be established and "death and despair" to be defeated.

Two people have been charged in connection with the girls' deaths.

Ian Huntley, aged 29, a former caretaker at Soham Village College, denies murdering the girls, but admits conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

Maxine Carr, aged 26, who lived with Huntley in Soham and was an assistant in Holly and Jessica's class, denies helping an offender and perverting the course of justice.

They are due to stand trial at the Old Bailey, London, on October 6.