Parents' response: The parents of murdered schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman yesterday spoke of the "life sentence" imposed on them by the 10-year-olds' killer, Ian Huntley.
Jessica's father Leslie made no attempt to conceal his hatred as he said he hoped the next time he saw the convicted double murderer would be "in a coffin".
He told a news conference: "Our life sentence started last August. His is only just beginning." It was the first time the parents of the two best friends had spoken out since Huntley and his then girlfriend Maxine Carr were arrested in August last year, 13 days after the girls vanished.
The parents, who carried out several public pleas for information before the arrests, had stayed silent during the 30-day trial of Huntley and Carr.
Mr Chapman (52) described Huntley as "a time bomb just ready to go off".
Speaking with his wife Sharon and Holly's parents Kevin and Nicola by his side, Mr Chapman said: "I think it was a time bomb just ready to go off and unfortunately both our girls were in the wrong place and at the wrong time.
"There is nothing to say any more about him.
"I hope that the next time I will have to see him will be like we saw our daughters, and it will be in a coffin." Holly's father Kevin (40) said he felt "a great sense of relief" as the verdicts were announced, adding: "There was certainly no sense of euphoria." He went on: "We have had doubts for 16 months . . . Not until that verdict was announced today have we had a cessation of our fears." Mr Wells said he had given a lot of thought to the "contentious" issue of whether he would want to see his daughter's killer hang, were the death penalty to become legal again.
"I'm not sure, whether there was a death penalty in place, whether our position would be any more tenable," he said.
The contract cleaner said the families were all hoping to be involved in the forthcoming inquiry.
He said he had reacted "very negatively" when he first discovered that Huntley was already known to the authorities, but that he hoped there would be legislative changes to come out of the parents' ordeal, so that "no-one else has to go through another 16 months like we have".
Asked about how the parents felt still not knowing for sure how the girls died, Mr Chapman said: "There's only one man who can answer that question and whether he has the guts to answer the question publicly is down to him." The two fathers both made statements at the start of the news conference, thanking the police, the people of Soham, the judge, jurors and the media for their support.
Asked how they had stayed composed and strong throughout the 30-day trial, both women replied: "I don't know." Mrs Chapman (44) a classroom assistant at the primary school formerly attended by the girls, added: "That man's changed everything, he's not going to win this."