Police 'ruled out Soham killer' days into inquiry

SOHAM killer Ian Huntley was officially "eliminated" as a suspect in the murder hunt just six days into the police investigation, a secret report revealed yesterday.

Cambridgeshire Police officers leading the search for missing schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman accepted a false alibi given by Huntley's then girlfriend, Maxine Carr.

When Huntley, who was convicted of murdering the 10-year-olds, re-emerged as a suspect, detectives asked for a surveillance operation.

However, it could not be mounted because the surveillance team had "other commitments", the report revealed. The report was written by senior Scotland Yard officer Detective Superintendent David Begg, at the time of the murders in August 2002.

Extracts were obtained by The London Times under the Freedom of Information Act and published yesterday.

The report criticises Cambridgeshire Police and its handling of the early stages of the case. It accuses senior officers of conducting a "poorly focused investigation", not recognising they were dealing with a major incident and allowing "fundamental lines of inquiry to go unnoticed".

The report also recounts how Acting Det Supt David Beck, who led the inquiry, refused a request to deploy extra officers the night the girls went missing because there could be "an innocent explanation for the girls' disappearance".

The report concluded: "This was not a fast-track, intelligence-led investigation. Analysis of the information available, particularly that being highlighted by junior officers, does not appear to have taken place.

"There appears to have been an inability to collate and capitalise on the facts available that allowed fundamental lines of inquiry to go unnoticed."

Mr Begg was part of a Scotland Yard review team invited to Soham 10 days into the inquiry Mr Beck was quickly replaced as senior investigating officer by Det Chief Supt Chris Stevenson, and Huntley was arrested just days later.

A spokeswoman for the force yesterday said it had "taken on board" the criticisms contained within Mr Begg's report.

"All recommendations from this and other reviews have been implemented in full," she said.

"Ultimately, Huntley was successfully prosecuted for murdering Holly and Jessica following what is recognised as a thorough and extremely robust criminal investigation by this force."

Huntley, 31, was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in December 2003.