Huntley: How Holly and Jessica died

Soham accused Ian Huntley today told how schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died in his home.

The former school caretaker said the 10-year-olds approached him on August 4 last year as he was cleaning his dog on his front drive.

Holly had a nose bleed, so he suggested they went into his house where they could clean her up, Huntley said.

After a short time in the living room, he went upstairs to his bathroom with Holly, the Old Bailey heard.

“Holly’s nose wasn’t getting any better and I thought it was better to have soaking cold wet tissue to the nose,” Huntley said.

“I have very basic first aid knowledge and I believe that’s what you do.”

He said he did not invite Jessica to come upstairs with him and Holly, but that she “came of her own accord“.

“I suggested that they sat down on the edge of the bath.

“Holly sat near the sink and Jessica, she was sat closer to the door end.”

He soaked pieces of toilet paper in the sink and passed them to Holly who lent forward to the sink and put the tissue against her nose, tilting her head back.

“Jessica asked if she could use the toilet and I said yes. I took the tissues off Holly and replaced it with a dry tissue.”

He said he and Holly went into the main bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed.

A drop of blood fell on to the sheet, he told the jury, but he could not remember whether it hit the quilt or the cover sheet.

After Jessica had been to the lavatory Holly stood up and they went out on the landing, he said.

“Jessica came out on to the landing. Directly in front was the spare room.

“The door was open and Holly asked why it was so bare. I said it was just a spare room.”

Huntley said: “I stayed on the landing – they were there seconds.” They then all returned to the bathroom.

“Holly’s nose did not look to be bleeding very much by now. The girls went into the same positions.

“I went to pass Holly some more tissues. As I did – I am not really sure how it happened – I sort of turned and I slipped and went forward in the direction of Holly.”

Asked what had made him move in this way and Huntley replied: “To pass the toilet paper to Holly, as I had done on a couple of occasions.”

He said he could not remember what caused him to slip. “It happened very quickly.”

He told the jury he fell in the direction of Holly, but could not recall if he came into contact with her.

Defence barrister Stephen Coward QC said: “What did you hear as she began to fall backwards?”

Huntley: “I ... I heard a splash.”

He said Jessica then began screaming.

“She ... she was screaming and shouting at me ’You pushed her’ over and over.”

He said he had not deliberately pushed Holly, but may have accidentally knocked her into the bath.

Mr Coward asked Huntley: “How loud was Jessica saying or screaming ’You pushed her’?”

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

He continued: “It was just like a scream, probably higher pitched than normal.

“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.”

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.”

He said he had “very basic first aid training” but he did not think of it at the time.

He was trying to think, he said, but felt unable to do so.

“I think it might have been a combination of two things ... I think panic and the screaming.”

He went over to Jessica who was stood in the doorway of the bathroom, still screaming.

“I put my hand over her mouth.”

Asked whether he remembered one hand or two being put over her mouth, he said: “I clearly remember one. I don’t know if I placed the other hand on her to restrain her or ... I don’t know.

“All I can say is that I clearly remember putting one.” He said he did not remember having his hand on any other part of her body.

Mr Coward asked what he was trying to do. Huntley said: “Stop her from screaming.”

At some point, he said, it “hit” him that what he should be doing was getting Holly out of the bath.

“I let go of Jessica,” he said. “She fell to the floor.”

He said “it didn’t really register” why she fell instantly, with her feet in the bathroom and rest of her body outside it.

“My main priority now was to get Holly out of the bath.

“I went over to the bath and pulled Holly out of the bath and placed her on the floor at the side of the bath.”

Mr Coward asked: “As you bent in to get her out of the bath, did there seem to be any movement?”

Huntley was inaudible at this point but Mr Coward repeated: “No.”

The QC went on: “Having got her out of the bath, where did you put her?”

Huntley said: “On to the floor at the side of the bath.”

There did not seem to be any movement in Holly and no noise coming from Jessica, he said.

“I’m not sure what I was thinking. I am not sure.”

“I checked Holly’s wrist and her neck for a pulse,” he said, but found none.

“Up till that point I hadn’t really been aware of Jessica. I had not registered she was lying there ... I became aware of Jessica and I went over to Jessica.”

He checked her wrist and neck for a pulse and put his cheek next to her mouth to check for any signs of breathing, but there was no response.

Huntley said his next memory was of him “sat in the corner on the landing, just looking at Jessica“. He could not remember how he got there.

“I had been sick.”

He said he did not know why he had chosen that particular spot, or for how long he was there. Huntley said he did not try to resuscitate the girls.

“Holly had gone a strange colour. With Jessica, I had felt for signs – there were none. To be honest, I did not know what to do.”

He said: “I remember thinking about what to do and I was thinking of calling the police.

“But I could not believe what had happened. I kept thinking how do I explain to the police. If you cannot believe what happened yourself, how can you expect the police to believe it?

“At the time, things were not clear in my head. I could not think how it happened.”

Huntley denies two charges of murdering the girls but has admitted one count of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.