Huntley 'still denies' sex attack

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/humber/6583443.stm

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Soham killer Ian Huntley has rejected claims that he confessed to sexually assaulting a schoolgirl 10 years ago.

Hailey Giblin, 21, of Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire, says she was indecently assaulted by Huntley in Cleethorpes in 1997.

Her solicitor said Huntley had signed a consent order in the presence of his solicitor, admitting the allegations after a claim for damages was brought.

But Huntley's solicitor said his client denied all of Mrs Giblin's allegations.

'New evidence'

Huntley, who is currently serving a life sentence at HMP Wakefield for the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, had originally been granted legal aid to fight the civil case brought by Mrs Giblin, but funding was later withdrawn.

Elkan Abrahamson, of AS Law, said in a statement: "Mr Huntley has agreed to judgement being entered against him purely because he has been refused funding to contest the proceedings taken against him.

"He does not admit any of the allegations - indeed he denies them all."

But Mrs Giblin's solicitor Richard Scorer said the allegations had been admitted by Huntley.

He said: "In light of this new evidence we will now present this information to Humberside Police and ask them to reopen the investigation in relation to Hailey's allegations".

A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said: "We have not been made aware of any new evidence since the conclusion of the last investigation in 2005.

"We would consider the weight and relevance of any new evidence in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service. We have no confirmation of any consent order being signed."

Huntley, 33, was jailed for life in 2003.