BRITAIN: The High Court in London has ruled that Ian Huntley must stay in prison until he is at least 70 years old as punishment for the murders of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
The girls' parents said they hoped Huntley (31) would spend the rest of his life in jail.
Kevin and Nicola Wells and their son Oliver (15), Leslie and Sharon Chapman and their daughters Rebecca (19) and Alison (17) had hoped that Mr Justice Alan Moses would order Huntley never be considered for release.
After the hearing, the two families said: "We understand that judges can only sentence on the facts of the case put before them."
However, in a statement, they added: "Make no mistake, we hope that Ian Huntley spends the rest of his natural life in prison.
"As parents we may or may not be around in 40 years time - but our children will. They, like us, continue to feel the pain of their sisters' murders each and every day.
"That should not be forgotten even in the distant years to come. That pain does not go away."
Mr Justice Moses ruled yesterday that Huntley must serve a 40-year jail term before he could be considered for parole.
The judge said he had considered whether he could rule that Huntley should stay in jail for life but had concluded that such an order would be legally unjustified.
Holly and Jessica, both 10 and from Soham, vanished after leaving Holly's home to go for a walk in August 2002. Their bodies were found in a ditch two weeks later.
Huntley, a caretaker at the secondary school in Soham, and his then girlfriend Maxine Carr, now 28, a teaching assistant in Holly and Jessica's junior school class, told police that they knew nothing of the circumstances surrounding the girls' disappearance.
However it emerged during their trial at the Old Bailey in December 2003 that Huntley had met Holly and Jessica as they walked past his home, enticed them inside and killed them before hiding their bodies.
Huntley was given two life terms after being convicted of the girls' murders. Carr was jailed after being convicted of perverting the course of justice and has now been released from prison.