Carr 'would have wanted daughter like Holly'

Maxine Carr today told an Old Bailey jury in London that Holly Wells was the kind of daughter she would have wanted to have.

In a hushed courtroom, with Holly’s parents looking on, Carr described Holly as a “lovely” girl.

She said she was “always polite and friendly” and that the 10-year-old “did not have a bad word to say about anybody”.

Carr said: “Holly, she’s a lovely girl, lovely. She’s the kind of daughter I would want to have.”

Asked by her counsel Michael Hubbard QC to briefly describe Jessica Chapman, Carr said: “Very sporty, always laughing, always coming out with wise cracks at school. Just smashing.”

Carr, 26, said she loved her job as a classroom assistant at Holly and Jessica’s school.

She said: “I loved it. I loved being with kids.

“I liked all the messy jobs I went to take, like painting, just so I could be with the kids.”

She said she had been disappointed not to get a permanent job at the school.

Carr said: “I received a lot of cards. One was from Holly, yes. I received five or six cards and a lot of them brought in presents, smelly candles and things like that.”

Mr Hubbard asked whether she wanted her own children and Carr said she did.

She said: “I wanted children, he (Huntley) just kept saying we would have to wait till we were stable financially and things like that.

“I’ve got two nieces now – I’ve only seen one of them because I’ve been in prison – but I want children, yes.”