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Soham Murder trial

432 replies

codswallop · 05/11/2003 12:04

I am sure this must be indescribably Painful for the parents , But I was thinking in bed - what if I had been selected for that Jury service....

I am soooooo emotional and i reckon that this would seriously affect me for the rest of my life (not saying it wouldnt for others natch).

I know you cant get out of Jury Service But God - how would you cope?

OP posts:
santafio2 · 17/12/2003 19:22

sorry aloha I didnt know that we did know. I havent followed the case at all, because it has repulsed me so much.

Hulababy · 17/12/2003 19:24

here are the allegations. Some of the girls admit they had sex with him.

There is more here too.

HTH

Paula71 · 17/12/2003 20:10

Thank God justice for once has been served. Lets hope that the sentence reflects the crime and some idiot Judge doesn't give a lenient sentence. I think it has been proved time and time again (and to the detriment of children everywhere) that paedophiles never loose that instinct to harm children.

Lets hope the police SNAFU that caused the school check to come back as Huntley being acceptable to work with children is now sorted.

Now I wish the parents well and hope they are pleased he will be punished. Although the pain will remain with them for life, so they, as with all victims, receive an instant life sentence.

aloha · 17/12/2003 20:39

Santafio2 - it is repulsive isn't it? I really think I have let him get to me - such upsetting thoughts. He made me feel so angry. He's got a 50 year sentance and I think he will never be released which I think is good. And I'm not a vindictive person, I really am not. I hope this is also some vindication for his other child and teenage victims, the ones who never saw justice, and for their parents. They were branded as liars while he went free. I hope now they will feel that they are believed and that this is some kind of justice at last.

snowdonim · 17/12/2003 21:37

I think the jury did a good job, in a harrowing case, and that they reached the right conclusions.

Having now read about the underage allegations against IH, how did some of those come to the attention of police and ss? As I understand it, three of the allegations weren't made by the girls themselves - do you think it was 'common knowledge' within the community and someone reported him?

bunny2 · 17/12/2003 21:43

Paula, I didnt realise they had done a police check on IH. What did they base their assessment of him on? I hope heads roll over this one. There is no place for complacency when you have a job with that much responsibility.

alohappychristmas · 17/12/2003 22:07

snowdonim, I would guess that the parents contacted social services in order to try and get him away from their kids. And failed, sadly

alohappychristmas · 17/12/2003 22:08

Some people believe that the fact that he got away with everything in the past may have given him the confidence to do what he did to Holly and Jessica

anais · 17/12/2003 22:09

I just feel so sad for those little girls and for their families. I just find the whole thing so incomprehensible. I still don't know what to think about MC, she seems veeery convincing, but is she convincing because she genuinely didn't know, or because she was just a very good liar? Either way, she has had her entire life ruined.

I can't help feeling a little sad for him too. I'm not sure why. I don't doubt for one moment that he killed them...but it's just all so terrible. Makes you want to hold on so tight to your babies, doesn't it?

snowdonim · 17/12/2003 22:14

Yet it says one of the mothers refused a medical exam for their dd, which seems weird. Maybe she didn't think it was worth persuing because she reckoned the authorites wouldn't do anything.

I must say, I think it's ridiculous that in this day and age, when it's so easy to communicate with one another, the police and ss can't keep track of knowledge that their colleagues elsewhere have. Crazy.

alohappychristmas · 17/12/2003 22:14

Just watched a programme that had a witness to his extreme jealousy and physically violence to Carr. She was also anorexic which would have made her look younger so appealing to a paedophile. Hideous. I don't know what to think, but having heard the transcripts of her interviews I still feel sorry for her. But not for him.

Chinchilla · 17/12/2003 22:16

What about the poor parents who will never know exactly what happened to their daughters, or why for that matter? My thoughts are with them at this time. It must also have been horrendous to be one of the people working on that case. Too horrible to imagine.

alohappychristmas · 17/12/2003 22:16

I don't know Snowdonim (!) if your child was traumatised by a sexual assault, you thought the bloke would get off and your child would be deeply upset by an intimate examination, not to mention going to court, I might refuse to. OR if the girl herself refused, what could you do?

snowdonim · 17/12/2003 22:34

Ikwym, Anais, about feeling sad; it's another life wasted. As well as the girls' parents, who I think have been remarkable, I kept thinking about his parents and (ex?)friends; they must wonder what on earth they have done to have this visited upon them.

snowdonim · 17/12/2003 22:36

Yes, I'm sure you're right, AlohappyXmas(!). I guess unless you're there on the ground, you never really understand what happens in these cases.

angelanais · 17/12/2003 22:38

Oh, can you imagine being his mum? How could you live with knowing your own child had done something like that????

santafio2 · 17/12/2003 22:41

It must be absolutely awful for them all. My mum lost her daughter and watching her suffer was terrible but my sister did not die like this.I just could not imagine what it would be like for them. It is vile, he is a bastard

Chinchillyweather · 17/12/2003 22:42

I've always thought that about Peter Sutcliffe's wife and Mother must have thought. They gave him an alibi for one night too...I suppose you would just not be able to believe that someone you had spent your life with would be able to do something like that. It must (almost) feel like a bereavement. You have effectively lost that child. I have always told ds that I will love him for ever, but I think that something like this would mean that you would have to evaluate that love. You could probably love the memory of the innocent child, but how would you be able to reconcile that with the 'monster'?

angelanais · 17/12/2003 22:50

Wouldn't you blame yourself? Think it was something u had done? I think I would.

snowdonim · 17/12/2003 23:22

CCW, you've reminded me about a friend's ex-neighbour's son who is in prison for murder. I forget all the details but it was a high profile London case, about 8-10yrs ago. He was about 19 yo. His parents have travelled from the north of Scotland to London every month to see him. They are not young, he's an only child and it's been a living nightmare for them. My friend says she can't believe her ds used to play with this boy when they were little, she would never have dreamt he could perpetrate such an act.

GladTidings · 18/12/2003 08:50

Aloha - er...... Calm down!
My point was merely that he hasnt' been convicted of anything else. I never once suggested (DID I??) that he was too nice a person to do such a thing!

Does that mean he is also a Bank Robber, Drug dealer, and guilty of any other crime that is horrible???? Just cause he is a sick bastard it doesn't mean he is automatically guilty of every crime against humanity!

Noone is defending him, noone is denying he is evil and twisted, but lets not get carried away
! Your posts are agressive and accusing and really a bit heated and uncalled for.

Twinkie · 18/12/2003 09:01

Message withdrawn

TheGrinch · 18/12/2003 10:13

I saw some of the BBC programme last night, including the tape of MC's reaction when she was told that IH had killed them. I believe that she really didn't know and as this piece says at the end, she should be allowed her life back when she gets out.

Twinkie · 18/12/2003 10:33

Message withdrawn

TheGrinch · 18/12/2003 10:53

I didn't see the press conferences etc at the time because we were on holiday - have only seen bits.

Thing is that she really didn't know they were dead at the time, but was talking of them as she knew them in the past - hence the past tense - and she could talk honestly about how Jessica made her feel because in her mind Jessica was alive. The giggles, I imagine, were pure nerves about being on television.

Re the lies - it sounds as if she just described their normal weekend - they did the same thing every week anyway so not difficult.

What she did was wrong and stupid, but was done on the assumption that he was innocent of the girls' disappearance and that she would have to live with him afterwards - and knowing what sort of person he was, if she had refused to cover up for him life afterwards would have been very unpleasant. She did love him.