'Huntley tried to cover his tracks'

Ian Huntley methodically covered his tracks after Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died in his house, the Old Bailey heard today.

Throughout the police investigation he tried to stay "one step ahead" and pestered a special constable about DNA, it was claimed. The school caretaker, who admits the girls died while he was alone with them, but denies murder, tried to eradicate every trace of the 10-year-olds from his car and home in Soham, it was alleged.

His house smelled strongly of a lemon- scented cleaning product when police called and he was so intent on washing his clothes that he hung them outside on the line in the rain, the court was told.

Then, as the rest of Soham carried out a search for the 10-year-olds, he cleaned his car.

He "made a major attempt to sanitise his Ford Fiesta," said prosecuting QC Richard Latham, who added: "Many people who witnessed it thought it was nothing more than insensitive but may we suggest a far more sinister motive."

Huntley, 29, ripped out the factory-fitted carpet in the boot, even though it had been in good condition, and replaced it with a piece of domestic carpet. "What had been in the boot that had suddenly necessitated a new carpet?" Mr Latham asked the jury. Within hours of the girls going missing Huntley changed the tyres on the car even though they were in perfect condition.

The jury was told he had done so because he was afraid their tracks would be found close to where the bodies were buried. "It is the act of a guilty man," said Mr Latham. "It shows a man who is thinking calmly and carefully."

Huntley, the caretaker at Soham Village College, admits that the girls died shortly after entering his house in College Close on Sunday 4 August. His girlfriend Maxine Carr, 26, denies plotting to give him a false alibi. The Old Bailey heard today that when Huntley drove to Grimsby to collect Carr he showed her the boot of his car and she burst into tears.

The court was told that he then attempted to put the police off by inventing a bogus story of seeing a sinister man with a black bin bag.

"It was a total invention which shows a devious and calculating mind, who was able to think about what he needed to do to distract attention from himself," said Mr Latham.

In the 48 hours after the girls disappeared, while Carr was in Grimsby, Huntley kept in regular contact with her by phone. There was a connection between the phone calls and steps Huntley took to destroy evidence and distract the police, it is alleged.

The court heard that the afternoon following the girls disappearance a man, whom the Crown say was Huntley, went to a tyre dealer's shop in Ely, a few miles from Soham, with a red Fiesta. The man said he wanted them changed and gave the mechanic £10 to put a false registration number on the invoice.

The tyres taken off the car were still in such good condition the mechanic later offered them to the friend. Mr Latham said: "If Huntley had changed his tyres, what does it signify? It reveals a man who is aware of potential police forensic examination." On the way back from Grimsby with Carr they picked up a hitchhiker. In a "slip of the tongue" while talking about the case Huntley seemed to know that a sighting of the girls in Little Thetford - which turned out to be a red herring - was in fact false, it was claimed.

Huntley told police a stream of lies when he made a witness statement the day after Holly and Jessica disappeared, the Old Bailey heard. When police came to interview him they were given the "impression" by Huntley that Carr had been with him when the girls had disappeared.

Huntley repeatedly questioned police officers about DNA. He asked how long did DNA last and how wide an area would the police search.

A caretaker saw Carr scrubbing tiles in the kitchen of their home so hard that she was complaining paint on the handpainted tiles was coming off.

At 8.30 on the Wednesday evening there was evidence that Huntley had visited his grandmother's home in Lakenheath.

The jury has heard that the bodies of the two girls were recovered 11 days later not far away. "After all the talk about DNA he had a very good reason to be in Lakenheath," said Mr Latham. The case continues.