Ian Huntley arrives at court

The man accused of murdering schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman today arrived at the Old Bailey for his first court appearance alongside girlfriend Maxine Carr.

Ian Huntley, 29, arrived at the court in a police van with blacked out windows accompanied by police cars.

Huntley and Carr were due in the dock of Court One this morning to enter their pleas to a number of charges.

The police van carrying Huntley arrived at the court complex at 8.45am led by two police cars.

Caretaker Huntley is accused of murdering the 10-year-olds who disappeared from Soham, Cambridgeshire, last year.

He is further charged with conspiring with Carr to pervert the course of justice.

Carr, 26, is also charged with two offences of assisting an offender.

A provisional date for their trial before Mr Justice Moses has been fixed for October 6.

Friends Holly and Jessica vanished on August 4, last year shortly after being seen walking near their homes in Soham.

Their bodies were found in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, on August 17.

Outside the entrance into the Old Bailey was a solitary bunch of pink roses with a message attached to it.

It read: “Holly and Jessica, gone but never forgotten. Rest in peace darlings. Why?”