By JOHN TROUP, MICHAEL LEA and SIMON HUGHES
SOHAM pals Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman died in a double accident in Ian Huntley’s bathroom, his lawyer told the Old Bailey yesterday.
Stephen Coward QC said the girls had gone there when Holly got a nosebleed.
But she fell into water in which Huntley was about to wash his dog and Jessica started screaming, the QC claimed. Huntley put his hand over Jessica’s mouth — and before he knew it both girls were dead, it was said.
It was the first time Holly and Jessica’s parents had heard Huntley’s version of how the ten-year-olds met their deaths on August 4 last year.

Silenced ... pal Jessica Chapman 'screamed'
Mr Coward was cross-examining pathologist Dr Nat Cary when he outlined the chain of events his client claimed took place in his home at 5 College Close, Soham, Cambs, shortly after the girls went missing.
Mr Coward said:
Holly Wells had a nosebleed and because it wouldn’t stop she, Jessica and the defendant Mr Huntley went up to the bathroom at 5 College Close.
Holly sat on the edge of the bath at the tap end which is the end furthest from the door and next to the bath is a wash basin. Jessica sat on the other end of the bath near to the door. Mr Huntley was getting pieces of tissue or toilet paper, putting them under the cold tap to cool them, handing them to Holly.
On one of his turns from getting the wet tissue to give to Holly he slipped and it seems that he may well have banged into her as she is sitting on the edge of the bath and she went backwards.
He has no recollection of a bang but he does remember a splash.

Chain of events ... Huntley version was read out
When Holly went into the bath, which had roughly 18 inches of water in it because Mr Huntley was going to wash the 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.
For how long she was in that position he cannot say but he was then conscious that Jessica was no longer supporting herself on her feet.
He let go and she went to the ground. He then turned round to the bath and Holly was lying in the bath apparently dead.

Statement ... Huntley's QC Stephen Coward
He lifted Holly out of the bath, put her on the floor, looked for signs of breathing, found none, turned his attention to Jessica, looked for signs of breathing, and found none. That’s the whole account that I put to you.
Dr Cary said he had not heard the theory before and he would need to discuss it with forensic scientists at the scene.
Judge Mr Justice Moses sanctioned overnight consultations — but asked Dr Cary to keep a careful note of what was discussed, and with whom.
The girls’ burned and badly decomposed bodies were found in an irrigation ditch in a woodland copse at Wangford, near RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, 13 days after they vanished.
Gamekeeper Keith Pryer had noticed an “awful smell” during a visit to nearby pheasant pens three days earlier. In a statement read by prosecuting QC Richard Latham, Mr Pryer said he met up with friend Adrian Lawrence and his partner Helen Sawyer and told them he was going to check it.
He added: “I went into the cornfield and Adrian and Helen walked along the left of the irrigation drain up the other side.
“Having walked for about 40 or 50 yards I heard Adrian say, ‘Don’t come any further Helen. Go back to the van’.
“He then shouted to me and asked me to go over and verify what he had seen. I joined Adrian on the raised bank of the drain and looked in.
“I was not prepared for what I saw. There was what appeared to be two very badly decomposed human bodies lying side by side.”
The statement continued: “I immediately thought of the two missing girls from Soham and Adrian rang the police.
“I do not recall seeing any clothing on the bodies.”
Scenes of crime expert Kenneth Lewis said in a statement: “The ditch was approximately six to eight feet wide and four to five feet deep. The two bodies were lying face up.”
Yesterday’s evidence was interrupted twice when both Huntley and Carr complained of feeling unwell and left the dock.
Huntley, 29, denies murdering Holly and Jessica. Lover Maxine Carr, 26, denies attempting to pervert the course of justice and two charges of assisting an offender. The trial continues.
Girls of 10 'don't die
suddenly together'

Evidence ... Dr Nat Cary
HOLLY and Jessica must have died as a result of “third party involvement,” a Home Office pathologist said yesterday.
Dr Nat Cary added: “Because in simple terms, ten-year-old girls simply don’t die suddenly together.”
Dr Cary told the trial he examined the girls’ bodies just a few hours after they were found — and checked their medical records.
He had been unable to determine the precise cause of their deaths or if either had been sexually abused because of the decomposed state of the bodies.
Asked whether either of the girls might have drowned, he said he could not exclude it as a possibility.
But he concluded that “death must have involved the actions of one or more third parties.”
Dr Cary said Holly and Jessica had no history of significant illness. He added: “These were fit and healthy young girls.”