Huntley leaves prison for court appearance
The man charged with the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman today left Rampton high security hospital for his first appearance in court.
Police officers surrounded the gates of the Nottinghamshire institution where Huntley, 28, has spent the last three weeks undergoing psychiatric tests.
He was driven away in a police van with blackened windows at 7.30am, escorted by three patrol cars.
The former school caretaker was being taken to Peterborough Magistrates Court, where a ring of steel barriers has been erected to control any demonstrators.
More than 100 officers from Cambridgeshire and two other forces will hold back crowds expected to be at least as large as the 500 who turned out to see Huntley’s girlfriend Maxine Carr arrive for her court appearance three weeks ago.
They screamed abuse and hurled eggs as 25-year-old Carr - accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice - was driven from the hearing.
Huntley, the former caretaker at Soham Village College, is charged with murdering the 10-year-old girls, who lived in the Cambridgeshire town, but his first court appearance was delayed by concerns over his mental state.
He has been held at Rampton for assessment since August 20, the day he was charged.
Police fearing a repeat of the ugly scenes at Carr’s appearance appealed for people to show restraint.
A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Police said: "People always have a right to protest, as long as it’s lawful. Our job is to manage that."
For her second appearance, Carr, a former teaching assistant in Holly and Jessica’s class at St Andrew’s Primary School, stayed at Holloway prison and a live video link was set up.
But for his first hearing, Huntley, originally from Grimsby, must be in court in person, said the Crown Prosecution Service.
The short procedural hearing will not involve Huntley making a plea.
In an unusual move under the fast-track system, he will then make his second appearance almost immediately. He will appear minutes later before a crown court judge sitting at the magistrates court.
Holly and Jessica vanished on August 4 shortly after being seen walking near their homes in Soham.
Their bodies were found close to a track near RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, on August 17. Police spent weeks searching the site before reopening it to the public on Sunday night.
They are continuing to search at Huntley’s cottage on the edge of the school grounds, and at a garage and storage building nearby.
The work has been shielded from the public view by a roof-high green fence and trees.
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