| Flowers in Gods Garden - Holly Wells
and Jessica Chapman - Documents |
14/11/03 - Soham Trial Transcript
Friday, 14 November 2003
SKY News
MR LATHAM is the chief prosecutor and MR JUSTICE
MOSES is the judge.
Other witnesses and lawyers are introduced.
Page 01 02
03 04
05 06
07 08
(POLICE CONSTABLE BURTON, sworn)
Please, Members of the Jury, still page 7 of the chronology,
back to around one o'clock.
MR LATHAM
full name, rank and station, please?
PC
BURTON
PC Ann-Marie Elizabeth Burton, Cambridgeshire Constabulary,
currently stationed at the automatic number plate recognition
team.
MR LATHAM
you were a police dog handler based at (inaudible) in
August last year?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
and I think you were on a tour of duty running from 11
o'clock on the Sunday, 4th August, through to 6 o'clock
in the morning of the Monday, correct?
PC
BURTON
yes, sir.
MR LATHAM
did you make any pocket book entry or other record of
your duties on that night or not?
PC
BURTON
yes, I did, a very brief report.
MR
LATHAM
I think during the course of that tour of duty you got
a call on the mobile telephone from the control room indicating
that two ten year-old girls had gone missing from a home
address and that they had not been seen since about what
time?
PC BURTON
approximately 6.30 the Sunday evening.
MR
LATHAM
you were asked to go to a particular point in Soham, weren't
you?
PC BURTON
yes, sir.
MR LATHAM
what sort of time did you get there?
PC
BURTON
it was approximately about 20 past midnight when I arrived
at the rendezvous point.
MR LATHAM
the rendezvous point who was the duty sergeant there on
that at night?
PC BURTON
Sergeant PAULINE NELSON .
MR LATHAM
she was already there when you arrived, was she?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
as a dog handler I take it you had a dog with you on that
night, is that right?
PC BURTON
I did, sir, yes.
MR LATHAM
were you on your own - apart from the dog - or with a
fellow officer?
PC BURTON
no, I was on my own.
MR LATHAM
did you park your police car somewhere near the rendezvous
point?
PC BURTON
actually at the rendezvous point.
MR
LATHAM
what were you asked to do?
PC BURTON
Initially I was briefed by Sergeant Nelson as to the details
of the girls that had been missing and then I was ultimately
briefed to attend the Ross Peers Sports Centre area to
do a search of the grounds because it was an easy job
to do with the dog.
MR LATHAM
Now, you are based some distance away, I think, aren't
you?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR LATHAM
Did you know Soham?
PC BURTON
I had no knowledge of Soham at all.
MR
LATHAM
So you had, presumably, to be given directions to the
Ross Peers Sports Centre to start with?
PC
BURTON
In fact, yes, Sergeant Nelson actually handed out to officers
attending a photocopy map of the town and I was given
directions from that.
MR LATHAM
I am grateful. I think as you were approaching the sports
centre with the dog you met two men who identified themselves
to you, didn't you?
PC BURTON
Yes, that's correct.
MR LATHAM
Members of the Wells family?
PC BURTON
Yes, there was Mr Andrew Wells and I actually didn't know
who the friend was but I got the impression he was a friend
of Mr Wells.
MR LATHAM
I think you had a short discussion with them and indeed
with two or three other people who approached you about
what they might do?
PC BURTON
Yes, yes.
MR LATHAM
And did you indicate to them that you had a particular
concern given you were about to start working with your
dog?
PC BURTON
Yes, I did. If I can explain, my police dog is an animal
that is described as sharp, he is very protective of me,
a very good police dog but an animal I had to be very
careful with and I was very concerned that people would
be milling around the area I was attempting to search
and didn't obviously want to distress them that a dog
would be barking at them.
MR LATHAM
You really wanted the area you were searching to be clear
of people?
PC BURTON
I really did, yes.
MR LATHAM
If possible. If we can just look for a moment at the college
map.
MR LATHAM
I don't think there is any dispute about the rendezvous
point is where the an (inaudible)?
PC
BURTON
Correct.
MR LATHAM
When you left to start working with the dog did you leave
the car you used at the rendezvous point or did you drive
to the Ross Peers Sports Centre?
PC
BURTON
I actually drove to the sports centre location.
MR LATHAM
There are two ways of doing that, either by going on public
roads along Sand Street and down College Road into the
Ross Peers Sports Centre car park, or in fact going down
an internal wide footpath on the college site. Which way
did you go on that night ?
PC BURTON
The first route that you described.
MR
LATHAM
That would take you along Sand Street up to the war memorial
and along past the library and down College Road , is
that right?
PC BURTON
That's correct, sir.
MR LATHAM
You have said that this was a new site to you that you
are not familiar with?
PC BURTON
I have absolutely no knowledge of the layout whatsoever.
MR LATHAM
You come down College Road, you then arrive at the site.
There is a large turning circle and then you run into
an area which becomes a car park. Do you remember where
you actually parked your vehicle - in the car park or
in the area of the turning circle?
PC
BURTON
I actually parked in front of what I believed to be the
main entrance to, which turned out to be the college.
MR LATHAM
Right. So a turning circle with an area of grass in the
middle?
PC BURTON
Yes, I actually entered the grassed area in an anti-clockwise
direction so coming out of College Road where the T-junction
is, left and first right, that's correct with the arrow.
MR LATHAM
Where the arrow is now?
PC BURTON
That's correct.
MR LATHAM
Where did you leave the car, the estate car?
PC BURTON
About five o'clock on that grassed area about there.
MR LATHAM
At the time you drove in, would you have known what any
of the buildings were going to look like or indeed what
any of the houses close to the buildings were going to
look like?
PC BURTON
Absolutely no knowledge whatsoever.
MR
LATHAM
Can we jump ahead? For how many hours were you working
on this site with the dog?
PC BURTON
I got there I would think approximately quarter to one
in the morning and I left somewhere around ten past two.
MR LATHAM
Right. Quite a long time. Jumping ahead, during the course
of your work on that site, you met at least one person
with whom you spent sometime, didn't you?
PC
BURTON
I met three people in all. I actually met Mr Andrew Wells
and his friend to start with outside the entrance.
MR LATHAM
One person who you spent some considerable time with?
PC BURTON
Yes, that was----
MR LATHAM
Did you, when you met - where did you meet that person,
the person you spent sometime with?
PC
BURTON
I had started a very initial search of the school with
Mr Andrew Wells and his friend and for various problems
with searching the area with the dog and the two gentlemen
present, I aborted that search and asked them to leave
the site and it was while I was returning to my van to
start at what I would call the entrance to the college
and start the search again, that my dog was running free
and he trotted ahead of me and started growling and giving
me an indication someone was around. It was at that point
I noticed someone across the grass with a dog.
MR LATHAM
Right. Across the grass? What bit of grass are we talking
about?
PC BURTON
this the grassed area I described I drove round so----
MR LATHAM
The turning-circle grass, if I can put it that way?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
who did that turn out to be?
PC BURTON
it turned out to be Mr Huntley.
MR LATHAM
yes. Did he introduce himself to you, either by name or
by his job?
PC BURTON
initially by his job and later he actually told me his
name was Ian, and I introduced myself as Anna.
MR LATHAM
when he said what his job was, what did he describe himself
as?
PC BURTON
caretaker, head caretaker.
MR LATHAM
was he on his own or did he have somebody with him at
the time you first met him?
PC BURTON
when I first met him he had a medium-coated Shepherd with
him.
MR LATHAM
was that going to help or hinder your job?
PC
BURTON
very much hinder.
MR LATHAM
did you discuss that with Huntley?
PC
BURTON
I did, and I asked him to put the dog away as he had offered
to help search the grounds.
MR LATHAM
where did he put the dog?
PC BURTON
I assume in the house. I actually didn't see him put the
dog away because I turned to put mine in the van and wait
for him.
MR LATHAM
did you at any stage during the course of your work there
learn where Ian Huntley's home was?
PC
BURTON
when my dog first indicated that someone was around, and
I saw the person with the dog in the distance, probably
75 or 100 yards away - and it was quite misty as well;
I could see relatively clearly because of the sodium lighting
around the grassed area - I called my dog to heel and
pulled him on a lead and walked over towards this man
and I asked who he was. He said, "The caretaker",
and the conversation went along the lines of that's handy
because I'm here to search for two little girls.
MR LATHAM
when did you learn where he lived?
PC
BURTON
about that time in the conversation; he explained he lived
at the building behind me which turned out to be his home.
MR LATHAM
number 5?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
you therefore, as it turned out, had driven almost past
number 5 as you went anti-clockwise round the turning
circle on your arrival?
PC BURTON
directly.
MR LATHAM
did you notice whether or not there was any vehicle outside
the house when you arrived?
PC BURTON
no.
MR LATHAM
when you say "no", you didn't notice or?
PC BURTON
sorry, I didn't notice a vehicle.
MR
LATHAM
you didn't notice. Are you able to say whether there was
one or not - or are you just saying, "I don't know"?
PC BURTON
I have no recollection of seeing a vehicle parked. there
were no vehicles to drive around parked on the roadway
when I actually initially parked my car and, thinking
back, when I was looking across the grass towards the
house and consequently approached Mr Huntley, I did not
see a vehicle parked outside the house.
MR
LATHAM
Right . You described meeting Ian Huntley and I have jumped
ahead because I wanted to ask you about your recollection
about parked cars. Can we go back to your first meeting
with him when, as it were, the two dogs met and you called
your dog to heel. Who spoke first when you met?
PC BURTON
I did, I asked him could he get hold of his dog and take
control of his dog.
MR LATHAM
Having dealt with that, did there come a point where there
was any discussion about what you were doing on the site
in the early hours of the morning, clearly a working uniformed
police officer with a police dog?
PC
BURTON
Yes, well having Mr Huntley pulled his dog over and held
it in on the collar leaning over, at that stage I asked
him who he was. He said he was the caretaker and the conversation
was along the lines of "That's handy, I'm here to
search for two ten year old girls missing from home."
MR LATHAM
What was his reaction to that?
PC BURTON
Nothing at all. No acknowledgement except could he help
me search the school. He offered to help me.
MR LATHAM
You had been with, for a time, Andrew Wells and the person
he had been with, the pair of them, and they had rather
been getting in your way. Were they still in evidence
when you started talking to Mr Huntley?
PC
BURTON
They would have been walking away. I parted company with
them where I now believed they had walked along the footpath
in front of the Ross Peers entrance and it was literally
as I was talking to them quite loud because we were, I
was convincing them it was good idea to leave the area
and within less than a minute that's when I had the reaction
from the dog that somebody else was about, so they would
have been walking away as I would have been starting my
progress towards Mr Huntley.
MR LATHAM
Right. Do you remember whether you had any conversation
with Mr Huntley about Andrew Wells?
PC
BURTON
Yes, I did. I remember saying or telling him that the
gentleman over on the far side walking away was one of
the girl's uncle and a friend and they had been helping
to search the school. They they had become a little bit,
it was difficult to search with them present so I had
asked them to leave, which was why I was grateful to be
in touch with the caretaker. He would know the layout
of the place and he offered to help to look, which was
great.
MR LATHAM
Here you were, you, as it were, accidentally tripped over
the person who knew this site intimately, the caretaker?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR LATHAM
You indicated you had wanted to search the site, it is
the middle of the night, did he volunteer to do anything,
did he tell you he had anything?
PC
BURTON
He volunteered to get the keys to the school because,
as I explained I have actually been asked to go to the
Ross Peers Sports Centre and, at the time, I had no knowledge
the school was next door, and I never had a knowledge
the infant school was on the far side of the site, no
knowledge at all, although I was asked to do the sports
centre. Clearly, evidently, they were next door. It was
a far bigger task with the college there and when he said
he would get the keys to the college, I didn't want to
search the interior but because in my earlier search with
Mr Wells and the friend had possibly come across an insecure
fire door and also a door to the boiler room, which was
insecure, the offer of having keys and the caretaker was
just wonderful.
MR LATHAM
Did he put the dog away?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR LATHAM
Did he get some keys?
PC BURTON
I met him outside the front entrance to the college and
he had keys.
MR LATHAM
While he had the dog with him, how was he restraining
the dog?
PC BURTON
Bending over, holding her on the collar.
MR
LATHAM
Did he have a lead with him?
PC BURTON
Not that I saw, he certainly didn't use it because he
was holding her on the collar.
MR LATHAM
Here he was, very late, and he was volunteering to help,
do you remember passing any observation about that?
PC BURTON
Yes, my first impression when I saw Mr Huntley in my own
head was either he had come out because he had heard myself
talking with Mr Andrew Wells and his friend.
MR JUSTICE MOSES
Do we really want an impression? I don't think we really
need an impression.
MR LATHAM
What you said to him rather than an impression contable?
PC BURTON
Would you kindly repeat the question.
MR
LATHAM
If we can go back. It was by now early hours of the morning,
did you say anything to him about the fact that he was
offering to help?
PC BURTON
I just thanked him and said I was very grateful for his
help, particularly the fact as it was so late.
MR LATHAM
Did you make any inquiry about the building and the alarm
system?
PC BURTON
Yes. Well, Mr Huntley offered to open up the school for
me to search and I said I didn't want to search the school,
I was more interested in the exterior areas where children
could hide or perhaps accidentally get locked in but I
did ask if the school was alarmed because I was aware
of possibly a fire door being closed accidentally. I did
ask Mr Huntley that if a fire door had been open, would
it have activated the alarm and he said it should have
done in which case my next question was "Could you
check to see if the school is alarmed?"
MR LATHAM
did he do that?
PC BURTON
yes, he entered the school and came out and told me it
had been alarmed and he had left the alarm off.
MR LATHAM
describe what you did thereafter with Mr Huntley, will
you please?
PC BURTON
yes, I briefly explained how I wanted to work my dog with
him present and asked him to stay close to me and not
wander around, and I told him - we just chatted about
dogs - and I told him what I was doing with the dog and
how the dog would indicate, and I just wanted to rattle
doors and windows and make a way around the school premises
and have hopefully the opportunity to check the fire door
and the boiler room door.
MR LATHAM
did you in fact do that?
PC BURTON
Yes, I did.
MR LATHAM
during the course of your way round the school did anything
need locking or unlocking as you were going round?
PC BURTON
yes. During my first search I had to walk the long way
round; I believe it was a tennis court area with locked
gates. Mr Huntley had a bunch of keys and I do recall
at one stage asking him how he knew which keys belonged
to what because they were all colour-coded.
MR LATHAM
did you get to the boiler room?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR LATHAM
was that locked or unlocked?
PC BURTON
it was insecure; it was unlocked.
MR
LATHAM
as a result of that what did you do at the boiler house?
PC BURTON
Mr Huntley walked in and, assuming it was okay, he locked
it.
MR LATHAM
did you let the dog go into the boiler room?
PC BURTON
I had done originally.
MR LATHAM
you had already been to the boiler house?
PC
BURTON
I had found the door insecure when I walked round with
Mr Andrew Wells and his friend. I put the dog in that
time.
MR LATHAM
did you find the insecure fire door?
PC
BURTON
I did, that was closed and secured.
MR
LATHAM
did there come a time on your walk round the site when
you came across a large building, rather like a an aircraft
hangar, separate from the main Lodeside site?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
did he say anything about that?
PC BURTON
we had to walk away from the actual building line of the
main College and walked across the small area. I asked
him what the building was and he said it was a groundsman's
hut, building, which I took to mean holding sports equipment
and grass cutting kit and things like that.
MR LATHAM
did you ask him something about that building?
PC BURTON
I asked him if he had the keys to that building.
MR LATHAM
did he?
PC BURTON
he said no, he didn't.
MR LATHAM
Had you been asking about the alarms for the main building,
what about that?
PC BURTON
I did also ask him if that building was alarmed, assuming
it would contain a lot of valuable gardening equipment
and he said "No it wasn't.", which I thought
at the time was a bit strange.
MR LATHAM
Given that he didn't have the keys, he said, for that
building, did you try the doors?
PC
BURTON
I did. I actually walked completely round the building
with the dog still running and at the doors I rattled
the door handle and asked the dog to sniff at the base
of the door to see if there was a reaction, but there
wasn't.
MR LATHAM
Did you go round the Lodeside site during the course of
your search of the outside building with Mr Huntley?
PC BURTON
The hangar building.
MR LATHAM
No the school building
PC BURTON
Yes, as far as I understand the outlay of the building,
yes I did the complete exterior of the college.
MR LATHAM
Did you in fact go round the Sports Centre as well?
PC BURTON
No, I didn't. About 10 minutes before the end of my search
I had a radio message from the rendezvous point to return
to the location to be re-tasked.
MR
LATHAM
How long do you think you were with Ian Huntley doing
this work?
PC BURTON
About an hour.
MR LATHAM
What was his demeanour like during this hour?
PC BURTON
He was very pleasant, very helpful. We chatted about,
because he was so young, we talked about his responsibilities
and he told me he was the head caretaker and had staff
under him and 21 cleaners, I thought that is very unusual
for a young man and I also thought that was where he got
his energy from to be so helpful so late at night.
MR LATHAM
You told him you were looking for two ten year old girls
and explained that's what you were doing there. Did he
say anything about the ten year old girls?
PC
BURTON
There was no knowledge or acknowledgement of any connection
with any ten year old girls made at all.
MR
LATHAM
You were then summoned back to the rendezvous point, was
Mr Huntley with you at that point?
PC
BURTON
No. It was another 10 minutes after I got the radio message
before I was able to leave the college grounds.
PC BURTON
When you got the radio message was Mr Huntley still with
you?
PC BURTON
Yes, he was.
MR LATHAM
How did you part?
PC BURTON
I had explained to him I was being called away and it
was my intention to come back to the sports complex and
he offered, he said that if he could help to do that he
would do. Somewhere along the line I do recall asking
if he had got keys to the sports centre and he did tell
me he hadn't. because he knew the layout of the place
I was very grateful, actually, very grateful indeed.
MR LATHAM
you after that went back to the rendezvous point and Sergeant
Nelson then tasked you with searching in a wider area?
PC BURTON
that's correct.
MR LATHAM
did you leave the College site to go back a distance away
from the site?
PC BURTON
yes, I did.
MR LATHAM
I think you were out on the fen itself?
PC
BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
I think you were asked to go back on that Friday evening
to the College site and again take the dog with you, is
that correct?
PC BURTON
that's correct, yes.
MR LATHAM
you got to the site about 9.30 where you discovered a
search was being conducted by a large number of officers,
is that correct?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
you were giving the dogs a rest later in the evening?
PC BURTON
yes, we were working the dogs about 20 minutes, half an
hour apiece.
MR LATHAM
I don't think you can carry on working them continually,
you have to give them a break. I think you were in the
area of the main entrance to the College talking to a
number of colleagues when something happened?
PC BURTON
Yes, I was waiting to be re-tasked to another part of
the building to search. Another officer I recognised,
a Cambridge officer, but I don't know his name, came running
up to a Hertfordshire officer in our group looking very
ashen and shocked.
MR LATHAM
as a result of what that officer said to you, were you
charged with doing something?
PC BURTON
yes, consequently sometime later I was required to go
and search the building we now describe that as the hangar
building.
MR LATHAM
I think by then you were made aware that there had been
a find at the hangar, is that right?
PC
BURTON
the phrase I overheard was a significant find
MR LATHAM
did you discover the hangar was divided into two parts,
each with its own access, with a wooden partition round
the centre of the hangar?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR LATHAM
did you search one or both sides?
PC
BURTON
I only searched one side; it appeared to be split into
a third and two thirds, and I was tasked to search the
small third which was the end of the hangar access from
the end of the hangar as opposed to the side doors above
of the hangar.
MR LATHAM
The technical end rather than the sports end.
MR JUSTICE MOSES
I'm slightly lost as to where this bit of evidence is
going. Presumably, this is the finding of the shirts,
is it? I mean, there is no dispute about that, is there?
MR LATHAM
Literally 30 seconds.
MR JUSTICE MOSES
As quickly as you can.
MR LATHAM
What were you asked to search at that stage? What were
you looking for at that point?
PC BURTON
For two little girls being alive.
MR
LATHAM
I don't think you searched the other end, which was the
sports end, did you?
PC BURTON
No, I didn't, that was done by my colleague.
MR LATHAM
Thank you, will you wait there, please, Constable.
MR COWARD
Officer, when you were asked to assist this matter, you
drive to the rendezvous point first, speak to a woman
police officer, I think that is Sargeant Nelson?
PC BURTON
Yes, sir.
MR COWARD
Who we'll see later today. She asked you to use your dog
and do a search?
PC BURTON
Yes, sir.
MR COWARD
You drive in as we know the College Road over the Lode
River and park where you have told us near to, we know
it as Lodeside?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR COWARD
When you drove from speaking to Sergeant Nelson to where
you parked near Lodeside, where was your dog?
PC BURTON
In the back of my dog van.
MR COWARD
Just running loose in the back?
PC BURTON
No, he is in a cage, he is contained in a cage.
MR COWARD
As a dog handler, you have a cage immediately in the back
of the van and when you are travelling your dog is always
in that cage?
PC BURTON
This is correct, sir, yes.
MR COWARD
At some stage you saw a man who turned out to be Mr Huntley?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR COWARD
That was at a time shortly after you parked your vehicle
by Lodeside?
PC BURTON
Probably 20 minutes after I first parked there.
MR COWARD
Are you sure about that?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR COWARD
Did you park your dog van anywhere else on the site that
night at any time?
PC BURTON
No, only at the rendevous point, which was off the Main
Road.
MR COWARD
Off Sand Street?
PC BURTON
Then immediately outside the double doors which I think
is the main entrance to the college.
MR
COWARD
You see, what I suggest happened is this that you drove
on to the college site, parked near Lodeside, and shortly
after you had parked there, Mr Huntley arrived with his
dog and the dog was growling and your dog was still in
its cage?
PC BURTON
I have absolutely no recognition of anything like that
happening.
MR COWARD
Are you sure his dog had a collar on?
PC
BURTON
I thought he was holding his dog by a collar, he was bending
over and holding. She is a long-coated, fairly long-coated
animal, and he was holding her, as opposed to the scruff
of the neck, he was holding something around her neck
which I presume would have been a collar, it could have
been a chain, I don't know; it was a device around the
dog's neck.
MR COWARD
you said there was a device around the dog's neck?
PC BURTON
yes, yes.
MR COWARD
I suggest there was nothing like that - the dog, when
moving on a lead, was put on a slip chain without a collar?
PC BURTON
all I can say is that I saw his hands in her coat, holding
her coat as opposed to holding the scruff of her neck,
so she wasn't wearing anything at all. She had something
round her neck I took to be a collar, because it was fairly
tight-fitting whatever it was, and his fingers were in
her coat.
MR COWARD
I suggest when Mr Huntley got up to you, his dog was a
bit ahead of him, and your dog and Mr Huntley's dog started
barking at each other?
PC BURTON
as I approached Mr Huntley my dog was on a lead, and his
dog originally was running free and barking and rowing
at each other, which was why I called to him to take control
of his dog.
MR COWARD
I agree you asked him to take his dog back home but I
suggest that was close to your van?
PC
BURTON
no, sir, it was outside between the grassed area and the
front of his house.
MR COWARD
I suggest he then did as you asked; by that time you had
established that he was, as you call it, the head caretaker
for the College, and he comes back with a bunch of keys?
PC BURTON
he met me outside the front of the school with the keys
in his hands.
MR COWARD
Yes. Outside the front door of where?
PC
BURTON
of the College where my van was parked.
MR
COWARD
then you then proceeded to look wherever you wanted to
go or where the dog led you?
PC BURTON
I followed, or initially followed, the route I had taken
with Mr Andrew Wells and his friend but, because the route
had been restricted by locked gates, I walked round with
Mr Huntley, and the first set of gates that we came across,
which was a double gate he had keys to, and we were able
to cut through and keep tight to the building, the building
on the right hand side.
MR COWARD
you of course did not know the campus well at all?
PC BURTON
absolutely no knowledge whatsoever. Transcript delayed
- will resume shortly
MR COWARD
no knowledge. was the essence of your search to look outside
the building rather than to enter buildings?
PC BURTON
yes.
MR COWARD
If a door was locked, you were drawing the conclusion
that the girls are unlikely to be in there because the
door is locked?
PC BURTON
At that stage, because the task was so mammoth at that
stage to search.
MR COWARD
You did come across one which should have been locked
but wasn't?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR COWARD
You discovered that yourself, did you?
PC
BURTON
I think it was Mr Wells who found it undone.
MR COWARD
This is before you met Mr Huntley?
PC
BURTON
Yes, this is the initial search I conducted.
MR COWARD
Having discovered there was an insecure door, did you
go back to that door with Mr Huntley?
PC
BURTON
Yes, I did.
MR COWARD
What happened with regard to that door and what was behind
it?
PC BURTON
He opened the door, he went inside, had a look around
and I assume, I don't recall the conversation, but assume
he locked it.
MR COWARD
Your route took you to a building which we now know to
be the hangar. How did you come to get to the hangar?
Was it on an itinerary you had, or was it just the searching
at random around buildings?
PC BURTON
The plan of my search was to walk around the building,
keeping it on my right hand side, and obviously with Mr
Huntley's knowledge of the site as well, as far as I was
concerned, we were doing the perimeter of the college
grounds. We came out to an open area. It was clearly open
because it was illuminated by sodium lighting and it was
tarmac and there was a building clearly standing freely
on its own and that's the building referred as to the
hangar.
MR COWARD
Yes. At the time that you were concerned with, was there
any boarding of any sort, any fence around the hangar
or was it free standing?
PC BURTON
It is free standing. Possibly on one side there was some
fencing, on the side that had the double doors, but I
had no obstruction getting to it, I just walked across
a tarmac area.
MR COWARD
You and your dog were able to walk round the perimeter
of it, to satisfy yourself there was no sign of the girls
there?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR COWARD
So far as going into the hangar was concerned, had you
asked before you got to the hangar to go into any other
parts of any other buildings?
PC BURTON
Sorry, would you repeat that.
MR COWARD
On your route before you got to the hangar, as you said
to Mr Huntley "can you open this door and turn the
alarm off so I can go in?"?
PC
BURTON
No, I had initially started the search , I had no intention
of entering the school to search it. It would have been
a too mammoth a job. My task at that time was to search
open areas where the children could have locked themselves
in accidentally, and because I had had a conversation
with him about the school being alarmed, I didn't feel
it necessary because the school had been alarmed, and
on his advice that had anybody entered it, the alarm would
have activated. Based on that I had no desire to actually
enter the school building itself.
MR
COWARD
Why did you ask if it was alarmed, had you asked that
of other buildings as you went past them?
PC
BURTON
It was more about- yes, basically because I was concerned
about children getting into - behind a door for cover...
For whatever reason they are out playing, hiding and they
got themselves locked into a building, so I was asking
about buildings being alarmed simply because assuming
had they gone inside, they would have activated an alarm.
MR COWARD
You weren't asking that about other buildings you stopped
at before you got to the hangar, were you?
PC
BURTON
Well I hadn't, I hadn't started with any other buildings.
The reference to the alarm was always in relation to the
whole of the college grounds, the school grounds. I was
concerned about searching the exterior of the school grounds
and because I had been told the premises were alarmed
and he had switched the alarm off. His advice was that
had anybody got in, the alarm would have activated. Then
the only other remote building that I saw was this hangar
building and had that conversation with him about whether
the hangar was alarmed and he said it wasn't.
MR COWARD
Which raised the possibility, did it in your mind, that
the girls might have gone in there and someone unknowingly
had locked it up with them inside?
PC
BURTON
Yes, but because I had also asked Mr Huntley if he had
got the keys to that building, having had the prior discussion,
he told me it was a grounds-man's building. When he said
he didn't have the keys, then my assumption - I thought
it strange but didn't question it any further, because
he couldn't help me getting in that building.
MR COWARD
Forgive me, you arrived at the hangar. It is a building
you do not know anything about. Take it in stages as to
how the events happened. Did you say to him "What
is this building?", please. Did he tell you?
PC BURTON
Yes.
MR COWARD
What did you decide to do in relation to that building,
once he told you?
PC BURTON
To go and check the exterior of it to see if there are
any insecurities.
MR COWARD
Did you do that?
PC BURTON
I did that, yes.
MR COWARD
Then what happened next?
PC BURTON
Well, having had the discussion I have had with Mr Huntley
about it not being alarmed and he had not got the keys,
and I knew I had not got an ability to access if I needed
to, I continued with the rest of the college grounds.
MR COWARD
So it is after you had been around the exterior of the
building, are you saying, that you first asked if it was
alarmed?
PC BURTON
No, it was as I was approaching it. It was coming out
into this open area, seeing this detached building and
I asked him "What's that?", and he explained
it was the ground-man's hut, which I assumed contained
a tractor for grass cutting, goalposts and that sort of
thing and because he had got keys on him, the natural
reaction was "Have you got keys to it?", and
he said "No", and then the conversation went
along the lines of "Is it alarmed?", and he
said "No.", which at the time I thought was
strange because of the value of the equipment inside but
that's it, that's all I thought. I then went on to walk
round the edge, to check its security, and asked the dog
to sniff the bottom of the doors as I had periodically
around the college building itself, and then we left that
area and crossed the playground tarmac area back to finish
the perimeter of the college grounds building.
MR COWARD
There is one thing to add, isn't there, to the account
you give when you said to Mr Huntley who has this massive
bunch of keys, "Can you unlock the hangar for me?",
he said he couldn't?
PC BURTON
I didn't ask him "Can you unlock the hangar for me?",
I said "Have you got keys for that building?"
Because he had keys to the school, I assumed he would
have keys for all buildings and when he said he hadn't,
I thought it strange but didn't question it further because
he is the caretaker, he has got, he didn't have the keys.
MR COWARD
Thinking about it now, there is a man, he is the caretaker,
you come to a building on the site, you naturally assumed
didn't you he would have a key for it?
PC
BURTON
Yes, I did.
MR COWARD
So you would say to him "Can you open it for me,
please?"
PC BURTON
No, because I wasn't actually asking him to open anything
specifically. I had not asked him to open the school.
All I was concerned about was searching the exterior of
the building for any insecurities.
MR
COWARD
This building was different Officer, wasn't it, you had
been told it was not alarmed so there was a possibility
the girls were inside, surely you would have said to him
"Would you open it for me?", not "Have
you got keys to the hangar?"
PC
BURTON
It depends on what stage we had this conversation. I had
the conversation about keys prior to actually getting
to the building as we were walking across the car park.
It pretty much was "What is that building?",
"Oh it is the ground-man's hut.", "Oh right.
Have you got keys for that one?", "No.",
"Is it alarmed?", "No it isn't.",
"Right. We'll just have a look around it.".
MR COWARD
There is one other thing, isn't there? You knew where
Mr Huntley lived approximately, or seemed to live. You
knew where the hangar was because you were now looking
at it as you were walking across. It would have been easy
upon your account for you to say "Can you get me
the key?".
PC BURTON
But I----
MR COWARD
You didn't say that did you?
PC BURTON
I understood Mr Huntley to say he had not got the key,
as he didn't possess a key, because my assumption in my
head was that it was a ground-man's hut. Maybe the responsibility
was with the grounds-man.
MR COWARD
I suggest to you as you were doing your rounds and you
got to the edge of the hangar, you said to him "We
will have a look in here. If it is not alarmed, would
you open it up?" and he said "I haven't got
the key.". Then he said "I will go and get it
for you?"
PC BURTON
no, that never happened. Mr Huntley was incredibly helpful
all the way round; he offered to - when he said he hadn't
got the keys, he hadn't got the keys. I didn't question
it any further because we were chatting about all sorts
of things, at the time everything was out of - it was
a needle in a haystack. I had not got a clue what supposedly
had happened there, it was literally that I had turned
up in an area I didn't know and I was going along with
what I could do in the circumstances, which was to search
a large open area with the dog.
MR HUBBARD
no questions.
MR LATHAM
I have no re-examination,.
MR JUSTICE
MOSES
the dog would not be looking for anybody in particular,
the dog would be just looking for signs of life, as it
were, would it not? You showed him a rag or----?
PC BURTON
no, no, the dog would indicate the presence of a human
being, just by his - in theory he would go up to someone
and bark, but the practicalities are that, with his temperament,
he would stand and put all his hairs up and growl. He
was that sort of nature and he was purely there as an
aid to indicate to me if anyone was around.
MR JUSTICE MOSES
thank you very much.
MR LATHAM
thank you.
(the witness withdrew).
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