I hope this can mark a new chapter for the town
I was only two years old when Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were killed in Soham by the evil Huntley. I don’t remember it, but it’s always something that I remember being spoken about over the years. Especially living in Cambridgeshire, it was something I always knew happened just down the road.
Huntley died in hospital on Saturday (March 7) after being attacked in prison and as soon as my shift started on Monday, I headed out to Soham to speak to people in the aftermath.
We wanted to speak to the people of Soham and hear their perspective, both on the death, but also how it impacts their town, which has been “haunted” by the tragedy. I went into it apprehensive, as I knew it was a sensitive topic for people in the area.
It took a while for me to find people happy to speak. I tried knocking on doors and talking to people in the high street. For some, it was clear they didn’t want to talk as soon as I explained what the topic of conversation would be.
This was totally understandable, it’s not a nice thing to talk about and the impact on the town was clear immediately. For the people who were comfortable talking to me, they were still apprehensive, but they made their thoughts clear.
They said Huntley was a horrible man and his death was something people were happy about. On the flip side though it was immensely clear how sad people were that his evil crimes were what Soham was known for.
With his death, the town and families affected have been pushed into the spotlight once again. The final thought now that Huntley is dead, they just want the town to be able to move on.
While out in the town I walked to Soham Village College where Huntley worked at the time of the murders. The school was set back, but as I looked at its pretty building through the gates, I felt sad.
I looked around and it really hit me that these are the roads he walked, these are the grounds he worked on and this was also the place where he dumped the poor girls’ clothes. I felt sad. So many young people have since come and gone from this school, but it is his murderous crimes that the school is most known for.
After seeing the school, I walked around to College Close, where Huntley used to live. I understand that his house was demolished not long after the girls’ deaths but when I walked around to the road, I didn’t realise how close it was, as it backs onto the school.
I also saw a sign for the Ross Peers Sports Centre, the place the girls were supposed to go to get sweets that tragic night. I felt even more sad and couldn’t imagine what it was like to live in this town at the time.
Hearing from people how much this murder affected such a lovely town, the pain was obvious. It’s clear this town has been hurting since 2002.
Two innocent girls had their lives taken away by an evil man. Now that he’s dead, I hope the town can move on.