UK News 18-12-2003 Huntley Verdict: Police Failed who: Soham killer Ian Huntley what: Given two life sentences for murder of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman where: The Old Bailey, LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: "The system for preventing people who pose a threat to children from getting jobs in schools faces overhaul after serious failings exposed by the Soham case," says The Guardian this morning. Home secretary David Blunkett has ordered an urgent inquiry following the conviction of former school caretaker Ian Huntley for the murders of Cambridgeshire ten year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Huntley slipped through the net simply because he used his mother`s surname when he applied for the job. The year`s most sensational criminal trial ended yesterday with an 11-1 majority verdict, two life sentences for Ian Huntley and a three-and-a-half year jail sentence for his former girlfriend Maxine Carr, who was found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. "The parents of the murdered ten-year-olds described their daughters` killer as `a time-bomb just ready to go off` as the first revelations about his history emerged," says The Scotsman. It emerged that, while living in Grimsby, Huntley had been accused of at least nine sex attacks, including four rapes; he "has faced three accusations of having unlawful sex with schoolgirls and one of indecent assault on a girl of 12," says The Sun. "He has bragged of having sex with at least SIXTY schoolgirl lovers and told a pal he loved their white knickers." That`s just the tip of the iceberg for The Sun, which publishes many thousands of words and dozens of photographs relating to the case and the killer`s past, which is now extensively documented. And the impact of the case is likely to extend far beyond the salacious details. "Although never convicted, his record should have rung alarm bells for any police inquiry and ruled him out of working with children," says The Independent. "But, despite coming under regular investigation by Humberside police and social services, no one apparently linked his behaviour, kept proper records, or followed police and Home Office guidelines." As for Maxine Carr, she could be released from prison in as little as five months, says The Mirror, unless she is successfully prosecuted for the "systematic" benefit fraud, with which she was charged immediately after the trial. [... more]

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