BRITAIN: Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died in a series of accidents in Ian Huntley's bathroom, lawyers for the alleged double child murderer claimed yesterday.
Holly died after falling into Huntley's water-filled bath as he tried to treat her for a nosebleed, barrister Stephen Coward told his trial at the Old Bailey in London. Jessica died as Huntley (29) put his hands over her mouth to try to stop her screams, the court was told.
It was the first time the jury trying the former caretaker on charges of double child murder were given any version of exactly how the 10-year-olds might have died.
It came on the 16th day of the trial, as the court heard gruesome details of the state of the schoolgirls' bodies when they were found, 13 days after they vanished in August last year.
Mr Coward said: "I will put the whole incident of my client's case of what actually happened on August 4th last.
"At the material time Holly Wells had a nosebleed and because it would not stop she, Jessica and the defendant Mr Huntley went up to the bathroom at 5 College Close [in Soham, Cambridgeshire\].
"Holly sat on the edge of the bath, at the tap end, the end furthest from the door and next to the bath was a washbasin. Jessica sat on the other end of the bath nearer to the door.
"Mr Huntley was getting pieces of tissue or toilet paper, putting them under the cold tap to cool them and handing them to Holly, and on one of his turns from getting the wet tissue he slipped and it seems that he may well have banged into her as she was sitting on the edge of the bath, and she went backwards.
"He has no recollection of a bang, but he does remember a splash. When Holly went in the bath, which had roughly 18 inches of water in it because Mr Huntley was going to wash the dog, Jessica stood up and started screaming 'You pushed her, you pushed her'.
"And he then turned towards Jessica and either with one hand or two, he's not sure, put his hands out towards Jessica, his memory is over her mouth, to stop her screaming. For how long he was in that position he can't say. But he was then conscious that Jessica was no longer supporting herself on her feet. He let go and she went to the ground.
"He then turned round to the bath and Holly was lying in the bath, apparently dead.
"He lifted Holly out of the bath, put her on the floor, looked for signs of breathing and found none. He turned his attention to Jessica, he looked for signs of breathing and found none."
Holly's parents Kevin and Nicola Wells leaned forward and listened intently as Mr Coward set out Huntley's version of events. Jessica's mother Sharon Chapman was also in court, although her husband Leslie chose not to attend.
Mr Coward launched into the account of the deaths during his cross-examination of Home Office pathologist Nathaniel Carey, who examined the bodies after they were found dumped in a remote ditch.
The prosecution allege Huntley murdered the two girls, but says it cannot put forward a definitive version of events after the girls entered Huntley's home, sometime after 6.30 p.m. on Sunday, August 4th.
Prosecution barrister Richard Latham told the jury at the opening of the case that the defence might claim the girls' deaths were the result of "a ghastly accident". He said the prosecution insisted they were not.
Huntley denies murdering Holly and Jessica, but has admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice. His ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr (26), a former classroom assistant at the girls' primary school, denies conspiring to pervert the course of justice and two charges of assisting an offender.