Holly and Jessica died after accident in bathroom, Huntley claims

Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells died in Ian Huntley's bathroom as part of a sequence of accidents, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.

For the first time in the 15 months since the two 10-year-olds disappeared from Soham in Cambridgeshire, the caretaker's version of their final moments was made public.

Jessica collapsed and died while Mr Huntley tried to silence her screams after Holly had fallen into the bath where she drowned, the jury heard.

The scenario was described by Mr Huntley's QC, Stephen Coward, with members of the girls' families listening feet away from the dock where the 29-year-old and his former partner, Maxine Carr, were sitting.

Mr Huntley, the court was told, had invited the girls into his bathroom after Holly had suffered a nosebleed. They both sat on the edge of the bath as he offered Holly wet tissues.

Mr Coward said that the caretaker, to the best of his recollection, knocked Holly into the bath he had earlier filled to wash his dog.

"Jessica stood up and started screaming, 'You pushed her, you pushed her'. He then turned towards Jessica and either with one hand or two, he is not sure, put his hands out towards Jessica, his memory is over her mouth to stop her screaming," he explained.

At some point Jessica collapsed and he turned back to find Holly, apparently dead in the bath. "He turned his attentions to Jessica, looked for signs of breathing and found none," the barrister added.

Mr Coward gave the account of the deaths during his cross-examination of the Home Office pathologist Nathaniel Carey, who examined the bodies after they were found hidden in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, on 17 August last year. Dr Carey, who did the post-mortem examinations, said his official findings were that cause of death was "unascertainable due to decomposition". But asked what his best opinion was, he said: "Although it is not possible to give a precise cause of death, that death must have involved the actions of one or more third parties. In simple terms, 10-year-old girls simply do not die suddenly together."

The former Soham Village College caretaker denies the double murder.

The jury was told earlier in the day that Mr Huntley admitted the schoolfriends died in his house and that he disposed of their bodies.

The prosecution claims that Ms Carr, while more than 100 miles away at the time, lied for her partner and helped him cover his tracks. The 26-year-old denies two counts of assisting an offender and one of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.