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Brian Farmer was the first journalist to speak with Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr following the disappearance of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire, on 4 August 2002. In the days after the girls went missing, police released a timeline of sightings detailing that Holly and Jessica left Holly’s home at approximately 17:00 BST. Investigators indicated that half an hour later, the girls spoke with the caretaker of Soham Village College outside his house.
During their conversation, Huntley recounted that he had been washing his Alsatian dog, Sadie, when the girls passed by. However, Farmer found aspects of Huntley’s story difficult to believe. As the Press Association’s eastern counties reporter at the time, Farmer had traveled from his home in Shepreth after receiving an early morning call from the police about the girls’ disappearance. Following the release of the sightings, he made contact with the caretaker—believed to be the last person to see the children—and encountered a pale, red-haired woman, Maxine Carr, opening the door, with Huntley appearing shortly after.
Carr, aged 25, was a teaching assistant who had worked with Holly and Jessica at Soham junior school and knew them well. She displayed a leaving card the girls had signed after her term had ended for the summer. Huntley, 28 at the time, said he and Carr had taken their dog for a muddy walk on the day the girls vanished. Upon returning, Carr went to take a bath while Huntley washed their dog outside with a hosepipe, water, and soap. According to Huntley, it was during this moment that Holly and Jessica walked by and inquired after Carr. Farmer pressed Huntley for the details of their conversation and noted that Huntley’s repeated claim that the girls only asked about Carr lacked credibility—there was no mention of the dog, nor any childlike reactions to it.
One aspect of the interview that particularly unsettled Farmer was Huntley’s unsolicited speculation about how the girls might react if approached by a stranger. Huntley suggested Holly would quietly comply but Jessica would resist fiercely. Farmer found this disturbing because Huntley had no close connection to the children’s school, unlike Carr. Throughout the visit, Huntley appeared agitated and emotional, refusing to be photographed and displaying unusual hostility. He remarked, “Even my mother doesn’t have a photograph of me,” which raised suspicions about his intentions. Understanding the importance of a visual record, Farmer arranged for a photographer to capture an image of Huntley as he left the house.
Though journalists typically do not pass information directly to the police, Farmer was troubled by what Huntley had said and suspected inconsistencies in his account. Shortly after leaving Huntley’s home, Farmer made a call that ultimately contributed to uncovering the truth: nearly everything Huntley and Carr had told him was false. Brian Farmer’s central role in reporting on the case and his interview with Huntley were later dramatized in the 2022 Channel 5 series, “Maxine.
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