A detective who decided no action should be taken against Ian Huntley over three separate allegations of underage sex defended his decision today.
Humberside Det Insp Peter Billam dealt with three cases of suspected unlawful sex with a minor concerning Huntley in the mid-1990s.
In each case, the officer, who is now retired, said there was either insufficient evidence or the girls in question refused to cooperate. The decisions not to proceed meant details of the allegations did not emerge when Huntley was vetted for the job of school caretaker in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2001.
It was there that he abducted and murdered 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002.
Mr Billam's comments came in a statement to the Bichard Inquiry today as the officer became the first live witness to give evidence.
The inquiry, chaired by Sir Michael Bichard, is investigating flaws in vetting procedures and police intelligence handling which allowed Huntley to get his job at Soham Village College.
It has already heard that between August 1995 and July 1999 Humberside Police and North East Lincolnshire Social Services had been told of 11 separate criminal allegations against Huntley.
They included suspicion of four rapes and an indecent assault and four allegations of underage sex. But the records were not kept and the allegations did not emerge when Cambridgeshire Police vetted Huntley for the Soham job.
PA