'No blood, hair or fingerprints found at house'

Prosecutor Richard Latham QC today read a series of brief statements about clothing seized from Huntley and his home to the Old Bailey jury in the Soham murder trial.

He read out a statement from a forensic toxicologist, who said there was no evidence of Holly or Jessica having been sedated prior to their deaths.

He ruled out the use of certain drugs, such as temazepam, opiates and cannabis, because he found no trace of them in samples of the girls' body tissues.

But he said the nature of the decomposition of the bodies meant he was unable to say whether other substances, such as alcohol, chloroform, ether or the so-called date rape drug GHB had been administered.

Medicines and a drink bottle seized from 5 College Close did not suggest that Huntley or Carr had access to "potent sedative drugs", he said.

A bottle of tablets used to treat depression which was seized from the house was prescribed to Huntley on August 13, nine days after the girls vanished, and none were taken, the toxicologist said.

Junior counsel for the prosecution Karim Khalil QC then read out a further list of admissions.

He said: "No hairs from either Holly Wells or Jessica Chapman were recovered from 5 College Close.

"No blood from either Holly Wells or Jessica Chapman was recovered from 5 College Close.

"No fingerprints from either Holly Wells or Jessica Chapman were recovered from 5 College Close, save for those on the box of Celebrations chocolates (which
Holly gave to Carr at the end of the 2002 academic year).

"No hairs from either Holly Wells or Jessica Chapman were recovered from the Ford Fiesta.

"No blood from either Holly Wells or Jessica Chapman was recovered from the Ford Fiesta.

"No fingerprints from either Holly Wells or Jessica Chapman were recovered from the Ford Fiesta."

The case continues.