Channel 5 documentary explores 2002 murders of Holly Wells & Jessica Chapman

One of the most shocking crimes in British history.

There are certain cases that always stick with you and for me it's the abduction and murders of Holly and Jessica. I don't think anyone following the case at the time will ever forget the photos of them in their matching jerseys. I was similar in age to both girls and can still remember the media frenzy around their disappearance and the worldwide shock when what happened to them was eventually discovered. Last night Channel 5 aired a documentary exploring the 2002 crime (available to re-watch on their live player), a crime that still very much has a grip on the minds of many. The new Channel 5 documentary Soham: The Murder of Holly & Jessica, details the harrowing events surrounding what has become commonly referred to as the Soham murders. The Soham murders were a double child murder committed in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England on 4 August 2002. The victims were two 10-year-old girls, Holly Marie Wells and Jessica Aimee Chapman, who were lured into the home of a local resident and school caretaker, Ian Kevin Huntley, who subsequently murdered the children, before disposing of their bodies in an irrigation ditch. The girls' bodies were discovered on 17 August 2002. In 2003, Huntley was convicted of their murders and handed two life sentences. The new documentary explores not only the murders but the aftermath and effects this horrific crime had on both the Wells and Chapman families and the wider world. It also looks into what became of those who committed this horrific crime, particularly Maxine Carr who was only sentenced to three years for her role. Now twenty years later, the shock waves of the murders of Holly and Jessica are still very much felt and changed the conversation from 'stranger danger' to caution about adults that we already know.