A police officer told London's Old Bailey today how he had found the burned clothes of murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman hidden inside a bin where they had been dumped.
Police constable Timothy Wade said he was searching an outbuilding at Soham College 12 days after the girls vanished, when he found the clothes stuffed underneath other bin bags in one of three yellow bins there.
"There was a 'strong smell of smoke. As I looked further I saw a mound of rags in the bottom," he told the court.
Mr Ian Huntley, the college caretaker, denies murdering the 10-year-olds in August last year. Prosecutors say his ex-girlfriend Ms Maxine Carr (26) conspired to cover up the crime.
Constable Wade, part of an eight-strong specialist search team detailed to investigate the building after its keys had been found on a drawer in Huntley and Carr's bedroom, said the bin contained the girls' red Manchester United shirts, their trainers, underwear and tracksuit bottoms.
The clothing, which bore the name of ex-Manchester United star David Beckham, had been cut up and attempts had been made to burn it.
"I picked up something. It felt like cloth. I could see black and white writing. There was the obvious lettering of Beckham and the number seven." he said.