Huntley tells court how girls died
 |
Huntley was the caretaker at Soham Village College.
Story Tools
|
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The caretaker accused of murdering schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman has told the Old Bailey how he panicked when the two 10-year-olds died in his bathroom.
Ian Huntley, 29, said he had invited the girls into his house and taken them to the bathroom because Holly had a nosebleed.
While he was passing her toilet paper for the bleeding, he slipped, pushing her into the water-filled bath.
"It happened very quickly. I don't know how I slipped," he said.
"I saw her fall backwards. I heard a splash. She (Jessica) was screaming and shouting "You pushed her" over and over.
Huntley, wearing a dark suit and tie, was giving evidence in person for the first time since the case began on November 2.
The court has already heard that Huntley, who denies murdering the schoolgirls, has admitted driving the girls' bodies away and dumping them in woods.
On Monday Huntley said he "panicked and froze" after Holly fell.
"When Holly fell into the bath I stood there waiting for some movement for her to get up. There was no movement."
He told the court he had received first aid training but he was not thinking logically because of his panic and from Jessica's screaming.
"I went over to Jessica. I put my hand over her mouth."
When asked why he had done this he replied: "To stop her from screaming so I could think. "At some point it hit me what I should have been doing...to get Holly out of the bath.
"I let go of Jessica and she fell to the floor."
He said he pulled Holly out of the bath and checked the wrist and necks of both girls for a pulse.
He then sat on the landing looking at Jessica's body lying in the bathroom doorway. He later realized he must then have been sick because he saw vomit on the floor.
"If I had pulled her (Holly) out of the bath and got her to regain consciousness, everything would have been OK."
Huntley said he had thought of calling the police as he stared at the lifeless girls.
"But I couldn't believe what had happened. How do you explain this to the police? I wasn't clear how it had happened."
He said not calling police or an ambulance was "a decision I regretted."
He then described how he took the girls downstairs. After checking outside to see if anyone was around, he put their bodies into the boot of his car and drove off.
"I didn't know where I was going to take them. I was just driving. I did not have a destination in mind."
The bodies of the two girls were found on August 17 last year in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, about 15 miles from their homes in Soham, Cambridgeshire. The pair disappeared after leaving a family barbecue and had been missing for nearly two weeks.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
