Prison service under fire as reporter gets job to guard Huntley
An investigation has been launched by the Prison Service into how reporter David McGee was given a job at the top security Woodhill Prison in Buckinghamshire.
Prison industry groups said underfunding and staff shortages could have led to the apparent security blunder.
Mark Leech, editor of the reference book the Prisons Handbook, has called for Peter Atherton, deputy director general of the prison service, to resign following the incident.
Mr McGee, a News of the World reporter, claims he was able to photograph Huntley in his cell and twice guarded him during his stint at the prison which began in April.
A separate inquiry is already underway at Woodhill prison in Buckinghamshire after Huntley was taken ill with a drugs overdose.
Mr McGee says prison authorities allegedly failed to check his false address or bogus job reference before offering him a job.
He said he “simply called up” the prison and asked for a job.
“Within 13 weeks of starting training, and while I was still a rookie warder, I was the sole guard minding Huntley,” he wrote.
Harry Fletcher, the National Association of Probation Officer’s assistant general secretary, said: “It’s extremely worrying but not surprising that the News of the World has been able to do this.
“Clearly security clearance must be tightened up but Woodhill and other prisons in the south east are chronically under resourced and have difficulty attracting staff,” he said.
Huntley is on remand awaiting trial for the murders of 10-year-olds Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells in Soham, Cambs, last year.
The two girls disappeared last August 4 after being seen walking near their homes in Soham. Their bodies were found two weeks later in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk.
Huntley denies both murders and is due to stand trial at the Old Bailey in October. He has admitted to conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
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