Soham jurors visit bodies site
The jurors in the Soham murder trial today saw the ditch in Suffolk where the bodies of murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were found.
This morning they were taken to the remote woodland spot near Lakenheath in Suffolk, where the bodies were discovered by walkers 13 days after the 10-year-olds vanished from Soham on August 4th, last year.
The seven women and five men were led down an isolated track where accused killer Ian Huntley is alleged to have dumped the corpses and cut off their clothing before returning days later to set fire to the bodies.
The jury met in the girl’s hometown of Cambridge this morning and was given a short briefing by Richard Latham QC prosecuting.
He told the jury the 17-mile route they were taking to Lakenheath from Soham was one of many possible.
Between the towns, he explained, there were many spots where a man “gripped with panic” could have hidden two bodies.
On the jury’s walk to the ditch, Mr Latham pointed out a sluice gate which had been lifted to drain the ditch days before the girls’ bodies were discovered and Wangford church around half a mile away, close to where Mr Latham said Mr Huntley’s father had previously lived.
Mr Latham also gestured towards a spot where he said Huntley had left two tracks through nettles next to the ditch.
Yesterday the jury visited sites in the Cambridgeshire town of Soham, including 5 College Close, the former home of Ian Huntley.
The jury retraced Holly and Jessica’s final steps.
Former caretaker Mr Huntley, 29, denies murdering Holly and Jessica but admits perverting the course of justice
His ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr, 26, denies attempting to pervert the course of justice and aiding an offender.
The court will now reconvene at the Old Bailey in London on Wednesday to begin hearing evidence from witnesses for the prosecution.
