Former Prime Minister Tony Blair resisted calls for public inquiry after Soham murders

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair resisted calls for a public inquiry after the murders of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, according to newly-released official files.

The 10-year-olds were killed on 4 August 2002 in the quiet Cambridgeshire village by Ian Huntley, who was caretaker at Soham Village College at the time.

After Huntley's arrest, it emerged Huntley had been able to get a job working with children, despite having been the subject of a series of complaints of rape and other sexual offences made to police in Humberside.

The then Home Secretary David Blunkett wanted a public inquiry after HM Inspector of Constabulary said it was unclear if Cambridgeshire Police had ever asked if there was any intelligence on Huntley, while Humberside’s data was so poor the result of any check would have been negative.

Papers released by the National Archives show Mr Blair’s initial response was that any inquiry should take place behind closed doors.

The former Labour leader said: "I am wholly against a full, overt public inquiry. Why not get a sensible person reasonably eminent, to do it on a short and quick basis."

However, after pressure from Mr Blunkett, the then Prime Minister agreed that Sir Michael Bichard, a former senior civil servant, should be able to conduct hearings in public.

His report which came out of the inquiry criticised police failings.

It also led to the formation of the Independent Safeguarding Authority and the introduction of mandatory checks on the potential criminal background of anyone applying for a role where they worked with children.

The disappearance of the two friends shocked the country and a major search was held around Soham and the surrounding area.

Huntley dumped the bodies of the girls in a ditch near an airbase at Mildenhall in Suffolk.

He is serving a life sentence for their murders.

His then-girlfriend Maxine Carr was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison in 2003 after being found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of justice for giving him a false alibi.

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