Post by Taxigirl on Nov 11, 2003 10:07:19 GMT
Jurors in the Soham murder trial are on their way to visit the site where the bodies of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were found.
The jurors are due to spend about 90 minutes at the remote woodland spot in Lakenheath, Suffolk, where the bodies were found in a ditch in August 2002.
On Monday the jury visited sites in the Cambridgeshire town of Soham, including the former home of Ian Huntley.
Mr Huntley, 29, a former school caretaker, denies murdering the girls.
His ex-girlfriend Maxine Carr, 26, denies attempting to pervert the course of justice and helping an offender.
In the opening few days of the trial, the prosecution outlined its case against Mr Huntley.
It claimed Mr Huntley had killed the girls in his home, probably by suffocation, on 4 August 2002.
Found accidentally
It claimed he then drove their bodies to the remote spot in Lakenheath, about 40 minutes away, where he dumped them in a ditch.
Mr Huntley returned two days later and tried to set fire to their bodies, it was claimed.
The bodies were found by accident 13 days later by members of the public.
On Monday, the jurors, judge and legal team from the Old Bailey spent a few hours in Soham.
They drove past the girls' homes and walked to the town's war memorial and its sports centre, which the girls passed in their final hours.
When they visited Mr Huntley's home of 5 College Close, the jurors were warned the appearance of the two-storey house had changed dramatically since the time of the girls' disappearance.
House 'stripped'
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, showed the jury photographs as the house would have appeared when police first searched it.
"You are reminded that during the police search the house has been stripped of all interior fittings."
Mr Latham also pointed out the removal of the original windows and window frames, and numerous changes inside.
He said the lines of sight from the house were an important issue.
Mr Latham said: "Both the prosecution and defence invite you to consider sight lines from within the house both upstairs and downstairs and from immediately outside as we are here, all the way round the site and up to the hangar, which you can see.
"We invite you in particular to consider the following: the view of the hangar, the approach from the sports centre, College Road that you have just come down, the entrance to the Lodeside building which is the school and indeed which buildings actually overlook this area immediately at the front of the house."
Police presence
BBC correspondent Andy Tighe said the whole of Soham had in effect become part of the Old Bailey during the visit, with strict limits on the reporting of what the jury saw and did.
Local people were encouraged to keep a low profile on the day, with council buildings closed and nearby attractions offering free tickets to residents.
There was a large police presence in the town for the visit, with lone officers marking the Wells and Chapman houses.
The jurors also saw the hangar building in Soham Village College, where the prosecution said police found the girls' clothing dumped in a bin.