Britain: The man accused of murdering British schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman told his mother he did not kill the two girls, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.
During a secretly taped conversation with his mother two months after he was arrested in August last year, Mr Ian Huntley broke down and described mental "shutdowns" he experienced while being held at Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes.
At one point in the transcript of the conversation, which was heard by the jury, Huntley's mother, Ms Lynda Huntley, suggested he could have harmed the girls during such a "shutdown".
Huntley then said to her: "When I shut down I'm not capable of doing anything . . . If you think I can shut down and hurt somebody - No." He said he needed his family to believe that he did not commit the murders.
The jury also heard a recording of a conversation between Mr Huntley's mother and his girlfriend, Ms Maxine Carr, who is accused of conspiring to prevent the course of justice.
Ms Carr, crying, said: "I don't understand why this has happened. I don't know what to think. He was so normal. Something's wrong." She also said Mr Huntley's version of events on the day the girls disappeared did not make sense. - (Reuters)