Journalists giving evidence at Soham trial

The murder trial of Soham accused Ian Huntley today heard from journalists who interviewed him during the hunt for schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

A series of journalists and police officers who spoke to the Soham Village College caretaker were giving evidence at London's Old Bailey.

The first witness of the day was Pc Tim Cleary, who began his evidence yesterday about how he had a cup of tea with Huntley at about 1am on Thursday August 8.

Huntley, 29, denies murdering the friends 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. Their bodies were found 13 days later in a remote ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk.

Pc Cleary continued his evidence about his conversations with Huntley in the caretaker's house during the early hours of Thursday August 8, the witness told how Huntley appeared "upset" and "tired" as he spoke about various topics including DNA and his meeting with the girls.

Asked how Huntley behaved in general, Pc Cleary said: “He was very upset, he looked very tired and I spent quite a long time reassuring him that I am sure there was nothing more he could do.

“He came across as having a great sense of guilt, that he could have done more when he met the children.”

The court has already heard that Huntley said he saw the girls on the evening of Sunday August 4 and may have been the last person to see them.

Asked by Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, how Huntley was smoking, the witness said: “It appeared to be that, that he may be nervous or something like that.”

Mr Latham questioned the officer on what he meant by Huntley thinking he could have done more.

The witness said: “He said in hindsight he wished he had challenged the children to ascertain where they were going and what they were doing.”

Asked to be more specific, the witness said: “He did not elaborate on that. He appeared to be saying he was helpless in not having done that.”

Earlier the witness told how he had spoken with Huntley in the kitchen which he described as “brightly lit and very clean” and they also discussed how the caretaker had provided maps of the college site to help the police in their search.

On discussions about the search and media coverage, the witness said: “He (Huntley) suggested it was becoming increasingly more serious, as the media was suggesting, that every day that passed increased in severity.”

They also spoke about mobile phone technology and what the police could do with that but the witness said he had not been briefed on that.

He said they also spoke about DNA and how the media coverage had discussed how offenders had become more aware of DNA evidence and would “wear gloves, not leave any trace of themselves at the crime scenes”.

Pc Cleary also revealed that the topic turned to the subject of other cases including that of Milly Dowler, who was still missing and Sarah Payne.

The witness said: “We talked about Milly Dowler that nobody at the time had been discovered and where the police may be going with that investigation.”

Asked what Huntley was saying about this, the officer added: “He was suggesting it may be some time before bodies were found.”

The witness said they also talked about computers and internet grooming and adding that he thought it was Huntley that brought up the topic.

He added: “In the media that day they had talked about a computer being taken from one of the child’s homes and he linked that with the possibility of internet chatrooms and that the children may have arranged a visit or meeting with somebody.”

Pc Cleary said he was in the house for 30-40 minutes and that he left to go and check the security at school.

Under cross-examination by Stephen Coward, for Huntley, he said he had not noticed any marks or scratches on the caretaker’s face.

A previous witness said he had three inch-long scratches on Huntley’s face.

The policeman said he had mentioned to the defendant that the was disappointed that the press had, in his opinion, given away important details about the police’s investigation techniques for tracing mobile phone and text messages and examining computer records.

The two men also discussed internet chatrooms and DNA.

Pc Cleary said he took no notes but later made two statements on August 19 and 28, after Huntley’s arrest.

In the statement he said the two men spoke about the police investigations into the disappearances of Milly Dowler and Sarah Payne.

In his statement he said: “I told him that I believed Sarah was dead within a few hours of going missing.

“I told him I didn’t hold out much hope that the missing girls (Holly and Jessica) would be found alive.

“However, he was keen to reiterate what he had already said in respect of there having been an accident and one had gone to help the other.”

The policeman agreed that Huntley was “sounding more optimistic” than him during that conversation.

Pc Cleary agreed that he had not mentioned in his first statement that Huntley had said he knew the girls not by name but well enough to say hello to them, but said Huntley had said it and that he had simply forgotten to put it in his earlier statement.

The next witness was Debbie Tubby, a BBC journalist who spoke to Huntley on Monday August 5, the day after the girls went missing.

She said: “He approached me in the car park (of the college) on Monday night to say that the police thought he was the last person to see the girls before they disappeared.

“He said that police had searched his house and that they thought he did it.”

She said he refused to be interviewed, saying he did not like having his photograph taken, but did give her his mobile phone number so she could contact him again.

Miss Tubby also revealed that Huntley asked her if the girls clothes had been found nine days before the bodies were discovered.

She said on Thursday August 8 she learned that the police were planning a press conference at Huntingdon for that evening.

She said she rang her six o’clock news desk to say that they thought there would be a “significant development” at that press conference and that Huntley approached her while she was on the phone.

She told the court: “He asked me what the significant development was and I said I did not know, I played it down.

“The next question (from him) was ’Have they found the girls clothes?”’