Maxine Carr returns to prison after treatment in hospital 'for bulimia'
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Maxine Carr, who was Holly Wells' and Jessica Chapman's teaching assistant, was sent back to Holloway prison yesterday after being discharged from hospital.
Ms Carr, who is accused of lying to police during the Soham inquiry into the deaths of the two 10-year-olds, was admitted to Whittington Hospital in north London late on Saturday night. Her partner Ian Huntley is charged with the girls' murders and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Ms Carr, 25, who looked frail during three recent court appearances, has suffered from an eating disorder for many months. It is understood that even before her arrest she had been receiving treatment for the problem, said to be bulimia. With her condition deteriorating, medical staff at the prison decided to send her to the nearby hospital, as a "precautionary measure". "It was felt a hospital, rather than a prison hospital ward, was the best place to make sure she got some food down her," a source said. He denied reports that Ms Carr had tried to take her own life after being snubbed by Mr Huntley when she bumped into him late last week at a police station in London.
The couple, who have been apart since their arrest on 17 August, were interviewed separately at the high-security Paddington Green police station. Cambridgeshire police would not say whether the couple had met on that occasion or not.
But one source said: "Any suggestion of any suicide attempt is completely untrue, a fabrication."
Ms Carr was placed on 15-minute suicide watch in the segregation wing of the prison after her arrest two months ago. During her initial court appearances – the second via a video link from Holloway to avoid the angry mob scenes which greeted the first – Ms Carr cut an agitated, frail figure, frequently dissolving into tears. However, she appeared more composed at her third appearance before Peterborough Crown Court – also by video link – on 27 September.
Mr Huntley, 28, is being held at Woodhill Prison, Buckinghamshire, having been discharged from Rampton high security hospital earlier this month.
It was decided the former Soham Village College caretaker was fit to stand trial after psychiatrists assessed he was not suffering from any major mental illness. Mr Huntley and Ms Carr are due to appear at Norwich Crown Court on 15 November.
Holly and Jessica disappeared from their home town of Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August, leading to one of the biggest police hunts in recent history. The discovery of their bodies 13 days later – in an isolated copse near Lakenheath air base in Suffolk – prompted a national outpouring of outrage and grief.