an Huntley will go down in history as a notorious child killer and he himself has been brainwashed into believing this monstrous lie, but the fictitious case presented against him does not stand up to scrutiny. Prior to the double murder of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, Huntley had no previous convictions, other than a fine for riding an unlicensed motorcycle. He was not a pedophile and the police found no evidence of preplanning, as they would have expected, nor was there any proof indicating he had abducted the ten year olds. Huntley denied any involvement and felt certain he was going to be “fitted up” for the crime, as he was the last person to see them alive. 

Ian Huntley (b. 1974)

Huntley said he had been cleaning his car when the girls stopped to enquire about his girlfriend Maxine Carr, their former, popular teaching assistant. He did not recognize them but said Maxine was fine and then the girls skipped away as “happy as Larry.” Nevertheless, he was arrested two weeks later when the victims’ clothes were found, partially burned, in a bin at the village school where he was the caretaker. The half of the building in which these items were discovered was not locked and accessible to anyone. Huntley was subsequently detained under Section 48 of the 1983 Mental Health Act, at Rampton High Security Hospital and remained in jail until his trial.

He was assessed by consultant psychiatrist, Dr Christopher Clark, who deduced that Huntley was, “both physically and mentally sound” and fit to stand trial, but he lost his memory during his stay at Rampton. It was claimed this was due to the trauma of the murders; all he could remember was the girls walking away, but this was said to be his “coping mechanism.” He did not recall how they died until after taking an overdose of pills at Woodhill Prison in June 2003. Huntley’s conviction relied wholly on this “confession” and forensic evidence which was circumstantial, or could have been planted. It is alleged he has attempted suicide three times by consuming pills.

During his trial, Huntley told an incredulous story about how the girls died accidentally in his bathroom after he invited them in to attend to a nosebleed. It is unlikely that Huntley let them into his house since Mrs. Bryden, his boss at Soham College, described him as “a very level-headed person” who was conscientious in informing a senior member of staff if any girls became attracted to him. The most revealing statement made regarding Huntley’s ridiculous testimony was by prosecutor Richard Latham QC when he said, “This is just false memory syndrome, all this stuff, isn't it?” UCI psychologists have admitted they use Propranolol to induce false memories.

Huntley had been passive throughout his trial until Latham insinuated the killing was sexually motivated. That is when Huntley became agitated and raised his voice, because the idea was so contrary to his true suppressed nature. The prosecutor implied his angry reaction suggested he had a temper, but Maxine Carr told police she knew him inside out and he was not a violent man, he was very emotional. Carr said, “He wouldn’t hurt anybody. He just wouldn't do it.” They were both of the opinion that child molesters should be castrated. Carr was convicted for lying to protect him and vilified by the media who compared her to Myra Hindley, a hated serial child killer.

The prosecution took jurors to the area where the bodies were discovered in a ditch by a game keeper at the perimeter fence of RAF Lakenheath, where Huntley often went plane spotting, which would explain the soil samples and spores detected on the pedals of his Ford Fiesta. But they were shown two tracks leading through overgrown nettles, indicating there had been more than one person at the site. However, this was explained by claiming Huntley had returned two days later to burn the bodies after cutting off the clothes which he left at his place of work to incriminate himself. It would have been more sensible to ignite the clothes whilst still on the corpses.

None of the thousands of servicemen at this military air force base, who have a reputation for murder and sex offences abroad, were interviewed or investigated. The judge, Mr Justice Moses told Huntley, “You murdered them both. You are the one person who knows how you murdered them; you are the one person who knows why.” Even Huntley’s defence lawyer agreed, aptly named Stephen Coward QC, he instructed the jury to find him guilty, “on thin evidence” of the manslaughter of Holly and Jessica, saying, “Mr Huntley was not innocent, nor unworthy of punishment.” Coward agreed with a list of twenty-one admissions submitted to the court.

Huntley received a life sentence, but after a recent attempt on his life by another inmate, he has been moved from his suicide-watch cell to another part of Wakefield Prison, supposedly for his own safety, but he is now in a better position to ‘kill himself.’ Jessica Chapman’s father said of Huntley; “The next time I'd like to see him, was how we last saw our daughters and that was in a coffin.” The bereaved families may get their wish, because as long as Ian Huntley remains alive, there is a danger that his real memories of that day in Soham on August 4^th 2002 may return, and then he will realise that he is an innocent man, not a merciless, calculated double murderer.

For an in-depth analysis of the Soham Show Trial see: http://www.joevialls.co.uk/