Probe into Huntley school job row

An inquiry was opening today into how evil Soham murderer Ian Huntley was able to get a job as a school caretaker despite a string of sex allegations in his past.

Former Whitehall mandarin Sir Michael Bichard, appointed by British Home secretary David Blunkett to head the inquiry, will formally open proceedings in London.

He will outline his aims in a public statement expected to last around 30 minutes.

Sir Michael will explain that he intends to focus on how police intelligence was handled, vetting practices and why information was not shared between agencies which dealt with Huntley.

He will look specifically at how a disturbing catalogue of allegations of rape, indecent assault and sex with underage girls in and around Huntley’s home town of Grimsby was not shared between the Humberside and Cambridgeshire police forces.

Following Sir Michael’s statement today three weeks of public hearings will be held starting on February 16.

The families of Huntley’s victims, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, will be able to give evidence if they wish.

Huntley, the former caretaker at Soham Village College in Cambridgeshire, was convicted of murdering the 10-year-old friends and given two life sentences at the Old Bailey on December 17 last year.

Afterwards, Humberside chief constable David Westwood said the Data Protection Act, as his force then understood it, had prevented them from keeping details of nine separate sex allegations against Huntley, including four rapes and an indecent assault on an 11-year-old girl.

Senior Humberside officers said they had adopted a policy of “weeding” out records because they thought they were required to do so by the Act, a misunderstanding described by one MP as “catastrophic”.

Mr Westwood later walked out of an interview on BBC2’s Newsnight programme when he was challenged over the issue by presenter Jeremy Paxman.

Both he and Cambridgeshire Police chief constable Tom Lloyd are expected to be publicly grilled at the inquiry.

Mr Lloyd faced criticism for not returning immediately from holiday when the girls went missing in August 2002.

In December 2001, a member of staff in his force failed to run both Huntley’s names – he was using the surnames Huntley and Nixon – through the Police National Computer when checks were being carried out on his suitability to work at Soham Village College.

After Huntley was convicted, Mr Blunkett immediately announced the inquiry, saying he had “real concerns” over how Huntley was allowed to slip through the net.

Mr Blunkett said the terms of the inquiry were to “urgently inquire into child protection procedures in Humberside Police and Cambridgeshire Constabulary in the light of the recent trial and conviction of Ian Huntley for the murder of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells.

“In particular, to assess the effectiveness of the relevant intelligence-based record keeping, the vetting practices in the forces since 1995 and information sharing with other agencies and to report to me on matters of local and national relevance and make recommendations as appropriate.”

As well as Humberside and Cambridgeshire Police, representatives from North East Lincolnshire Social Services were expected at today’s opening.

They dealt with Huntley on five separate occasions when he was allegedly involved with underage girls but the cases were never linked because they were dealt with by different social workers.

Before the opening of the inquiry, Sir Michael said: “This tragic case has raised issues of significant public interest.

“There has been much media coverage and speculation as to what happened in respect both of Huntley and of the system more widely.

“I would assure those interested that I will be undertaking this inquiry in an entirely objective and independent fashion.

“In doing so I intend it to be thorough but to move quickly so that where there are any lessons to be learned, they can be quickly acted upon.”

Sir Michael was formerly chief executive of Brent and Gloucestershire local authorities and in 1990 became chief executive of the Benefits Agency.

In 1995 he was appointed Permanent Secretary at the Employment Department and then the Department for Education and Employment.

In May 2001 he left the Civil Service and, in September 2001, was appointed Rector of The London Institute, the largest art and design institute in Europe.

He will be assisted in the inquiry by Bill Taylor, a former Commissioner of the City of London Police and Scottish Chief Inspector of Constabulary.

Last week letters were sent to relevant parties asking them to provide written evidence on matters relating to their work in the case.

Advertisements have also been placed inviting written representations from any other interested parties by January 23.

Mr Blunkett has also asked Chief Inspector of Constabulary Keith Povey to review an already completed Metropolitan Police inquiry into the Cambridgeshire force’s handling of the hunt for the girls’ killer.