Huntley goes into witness box

Soham accused Ian Huntley was today called to the witness box to give evidence at his Old Bailey double child murder trial.

The 29-year-old former college caretaker walked the few yards from the dock to the witness box as his defence team began their case.

He was the first defence witness to give evidence in the trial, which today entered its 20th day.

The jury earlier heard the prosecution formally close its case against Huntley and his ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr.

Huntley denies murdering Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on August 4 last year but has admitted one count of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

He claims the girls died in a series of accidents at his home.

Carr, 26, a former teaching assistant at the girls’ primary school, denies conspiring to pervert the course of justice and two counts of assisting an offender.

As the hearing resumed, Huntley's barrister Stephen Coward QC rose and said: "I call Mr Huntley, please come forward, please.''

Huntley, dressed in a dark suit, stood in the witness box and spoke clearly as he took the oath.

Mr Coward said: “You’ll be asked a lot of questions. If at any stage you do not follow a question, don’t have a go at answering it, just ask me again to put the question in a different way or a simple way and I will try to do so.”

He was asked to give his full name and, leaning forward, mumbled into the microphone: “Ian Kevin Huntley.”

Mr Coward asked how long he had been living at 5 College Close in August 2002.

There was a long pause before Huntley replied quietly: “Sorry, sorry.”

Mr Coward said: “Perhaps I can put the question more simply.

“When did you move to Soham?”

There was a long pause and Huntley replied: “January 2002.”

Mr Coward asked if Huntley remembered his interview for the caretaker’s job at Soham Village College.

Huntley took a sip of water and said that he did.

Mr Coward then asked whether Maxine Carr had come with him when he moved to Soham, and he replied: “Yes.”

Mr Coward asked: “How long had you and Maxine been an item?”

Huntley stuttered slightly and leaning forward said: “January, February 1999.”

Mr Coward asked Huntley where he and Carr had lived together before moving to Soham.

Huntley said Scunthorpe and Grimsby.

Mr Coward asked if there had been a period before moving to 5 College Close when he was living with his parents while the house was being done up.

Huntley agreed this was the case.

Asked if this was at Littleport, Huntley said it was and the barrister said they would come back to Littleport “later in the story”.

Mr Coward said the jury had heard that during his job interview in Soham he had been asked a “very specific question about how you would deal with a situation that arose”.

Mr Coward added: “What was that situation that was put to you?”

Huntley replied: “She asked what I would do in circumstances with having problems with female students.”

Mr Coward asked: “How did you answer that question?”

Huntley replied: “I told her that I would report it.”

Huntley then agreed with the QC that such a situation did arise. Questioned about what he did about the situation, Huntley said: “At first I spoke to the girl and told her I thought it was inappropriate.”

But it “persisted”, he told the jury.

He told the court the girl said she was missing lessons and looking for excuses to find him on his own.

Huntley told the jury he had “filed a report” about the situation.

Mr Coward asked if senior staff were then able to deal with it. Huntley said: “They did call the student into the office and dealt with it.”

Mr Coward said the court knew from the evidence that Carr's mother lived in Grimsby and Carr had gone up to Grimsby and was there on August 4.

“How did she get there – did you drive her all the way?” Mr Coward asked Huntley.

Huntley replied: “No, I had to go into work to clear up some flood damage.”

He explained to the court that he had taken her to Littleport so his mother and father could take her up to Grimsby.

Mr Coward asked: “When was she expected to come back?”

Huntley replied: “On the Saturday.”

Mr Coward asked: “So she would have had a full week in Grimsby – that was the plan?”

Huntley replied: “Yes.”

Mr Coward asked: “Once there, did you keep in touch with each other by phone?”

Huntley replied: “Yes, we did.”

Mr Coward asked Huntley whether he was working weekends during the school holidays or just Monday to Friday. Huntley said he did work weekends.

Turning to events on August 4, Mr Coward asked Huntley whether he had a dog. Huntley replied: “Yes, a black German shepherd called Sadie.”

Mr Coward asked: “Had something happened that day?”

Huntley replied: “Yes, she ran off.”

Mr Coward asked: “Was she in a particular condition?”

Huntley replied: “Sorry….?”

Mr Coward asked: “Why did she run off?”

Huntley said: “She was in season.”

There was a short break in the questions while adjustments were made to the microphones in front of Huntley in the witness box.

Mr Coward went on to ask whether Sadie had run off before. Huntley said she had done so the previous year when she had also been in season.

He said he had taken her onto the school field on August 4 before putting her into the car to go out.

That was at about 1 pm, Huntley told the jury.

“She saw this dog in the distance and she ran after her.”

Ian Huntley's evidence is continuing.