Huntley: Holly did not move

Ian Huntley has told his London trial that Holly Wells did not move after she fell into his bath on the day she disappeared.

His barrister Stephen Coward asked him: ``How loud was Jessica saying or screaming 'You pushed her'?''

Huntley replied: “Loud … it is only a small room.”

Asked if it was higher or lower than a normal pitch, Huntley said: “I’m not sure… it was just like a scream, probably higher pitched than normal.”

Mr Coward asked: “What did you do?”

Huntley replied: “When Holly fell into the bath, I was stood there waiting for some movement or for her to get up… there was no movement, I just panicked and froze.”

Mr Coward said: “By the time you looked into the bath and saw Holly and saw there was no movement, was Jessica then screaming and screaming you pushed her or did that happen later?”

Huntley replied: “I was not actually aware of the fact of Jessica getting up or walking over.

“I was not aware that she had done until I heard a scream.”

The QC asked Huntley what effect Jessica’s screaming had on him.

Huntley told the jury: “I couldn’t think. Stood here it’s logical just to pull somebody out of the bath, especially when they are not moving. I could not think.”

Asked if he had any first aid training, Huntley told Mr Coward that he had had “very basic first aid training” – first in the air cadets and secondly when he worked for Kimberly Clark.

Mr Coward asked: “Did any of that come into your head when you were in the bathroom?”

Huntley said: “No, nothing, no.”

Mr Coward asked Huntley: ``Try in your words to describe what was happening in your head?''

Huntley paused before replying: “I am not sure. I was trying to think.”

Mr Coward asked: “Were you able to think?”

Huntley replied: “No.”

Mr Coward asked: “What, if anything, was stopping you from thinking?”

Huntley said: “I think it might have been a combination of two things.”

Asked what they were, Huntley replied: “I think panic and the screaming.”

Mr Coward then asked Huntley about his understanding of college rules in relation to his house and any of the children who were being taught at the school.

Mr Coward asked: “What was your understanding in relation to the pupils?”

Huntley said: “The pupils should not really be in the house.”

He added: “Although our next door neighbour Liz has a daughter who would often come round to play with Sadie. She was 14 at the time.

“I told Maxine I was not overly happy about that.”

Mr Coward asked whether at the time he invited the girls in, it had occurred to him it was not a good idea.

Mr Huntley replied: “No – not really.”

Mr Coward said: “By the time you were in the bathroom and Holly was in the bath not moving, what was your state of mind about having the two girls in the house?”

Huntley replied he could not say if he had thought about it. “All I know is that I was very panicky.”