Holly and Jessica died by accident in my bathroom, claims Huntley

ALLEGED double child murderer Ian Huntley claimed in court yesterday that Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died in a series of accidents in his bathroom.

Pretty majorette Holly died after falling into his water-filled bath as Huntley tried to treat her for a nosebleed, Stephen Coward QC told the Old Bailey, while Jessica died as Huntley put his hands over her mouth to try to stop her screams, the court was told.

It was the first time the jury trying the former caretaker on charges of double child murder were given any version of exactly how the 10-year-olds might have died.

It came on the 16th day of the trial, as the court heard gruesome details of the state of the schoolgirls’ bodies when they were found 13 days after they vanished in August last year.

Mr Coward said: “I will put the whole incident of my client’s case of what actually happened on August 4 last.

He said that Holly Wells had a nosebleed and because it would not stop she, Jessica and Huntley went up to the bathroom.

Huntley was getting pieces of tissue or toilet paper, putting them under the cold tap to cool them and handing them to Holly, and on one of his turns from getting the wet tissue he slipped. “It seems that he may well have banged into her as she was sitting on the edge of the bath, and she went backwards,” Mr Coward said.

“He has no recollection of a bang, but he does remember a splash.

“When Holly went in the bath, which had roughly 18 inches of water in it because Mr Huntley was going to wash the dog, Jessica stood up and started screaming ‘You pushed her, you pushed her’.

“And he then turned towards Jessica and either with one hand or two, he’s not sure, put his hands out towards Jessica, his memory is over her mouth, to stop her screaming.

“For how long he was in that position he can’t say. But he was then conscious that Jessica was no longer supporting herself on her feet.

“He let go and she went to the ground. He then turned round to the bath and Holly was lying in the bath, apparently dead.

“He lifted Holly out of the bath, put her on the floor, looked for signs of breathing and found none. He turned his attention to Jessica, he looked for signs of breathing and found none.”

Holly’s parents, Kevin and Nicola Wells, leaned forward and listened intently as Mr Coward set out Huntley’s version of events.

Jessica’s mother, Sharon Chapman, was also in court, although her husband Leslie chose not to attend.

Mr Coward launched into the account of the deaths during his cross-examination of Home Office pathologist Nathaniel Carey, who examined the bodies after they were found dumped in a remote ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk.

He had previously asked the forensics expert how long it would take for someone to die from drowning or strangulation.

The prosecution allege Huntley murdered the two girls, but says it cannot put forward a definitive version of events after the girls entered Huntley’s home.

Prosecution barrister Richard Latham QC told the jury at the opening of the case that the defence might claim the girls’ deaths were the result of “a ghastly accident”. He said the prosecution insisted they were not.

Huntley, 29, a former caretaker at Soham Village College, denies murdering Holly and Jessica, but has admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

His ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr, 26, a former classroom assistant at the girls’ primary school, denies conspiring to pervert the course of justice and two charges of assisting an offender.

The prosecution alleges she gave Huntley a false alibi for the day the girls went missing, Sunday, August 4, last year.

Dr Carey, who had previously told the jury he thought asphyxia was the most likely cause of death for both girls, said the defence’s account had never been suggested to him before.

He said: “I’m slightly concerned that this is the first I have heard of quite a detailed scenario. Ideally I would like some kind of written account of the scenario to go over, because it’s rather on the hoof otherwise.

“I might consider such a scenario, had it been put earlier, with forensic scientists who had examined the scene, the bathroom, and the clothing. I don’t think I can give it fair credit otherwise.”

Mr Justice Moses said the pathologist could discuss the case with others, provided he told the court who he spoke to and what was discussed.

He will continue his evidence today.

The judge reminded the jury that questions posed by lawyers were not evidence in the case, saying: “Counsels’ questions, be they from the prosecution or the defence counsel, are not evidence.

“The evidence is what you hear from witnesses.”

Mr Coward said on Monday that it was not disputed that Huntley cut off the girls’ clothes as their bodies lay in the ditch beside the track, and that he took the clothes back to Soham Village College and tried to burn them.

The charred remnants of the 10-year-olds’ red Manchester United shirts and other clothes were later found hidden in a bin at the college, with hair that matched Huntley’s mixed in with them, the court heard.