Mr Ian Huntley lost his temper in the witness box at his murder trial in London today when he was accused of holding Holly Wells under the water and watching her drown in his bath.
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| A undated British police handout
photograph released on December 1st, 2003 shows the bathroom at the house in Soham, Cambridgeshire, which was inhabited by Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr |
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, suggested Mr Huntley had held Holly Wells under the water and watched her drown before turning his attention to Jessica Chapman.
Mr Huntley denies murdering the 10-year-old schoolgirls in August 2002.
The witness told how he had tried to "collect his thoughts" and was "frozen by panic" after, he alleges, Holly fell into the water in a series of accidents.
Mr Latham said he did not need to collect his thoughts, and that instinct demanded that he would have tried to rescue Holly, had she fallen in the bath by accident.
Mr Huntley lashed out in response, raising his voice and spitting out the words, saying: "In these circumstances it is very rational to know what you are doing.
"In those circumstances it is not so rational. Believe me, I know."
In the most highly-charged exchanges of the 21-day trial Mr Latham said: "You can be perfectly assertive when you want to Mr Huntley."
Mr Huntley: "Yes."
Mr Latham: "You can get angry, can't you Mr Huntley?"
Mr Huntley replied: "Yes."
Mr Latham: "You just lost your temper with me, didn't you?"
Mr Huntley: "That's because you . . . you have your opinion."
Mr Latham repeated: "You have just lost your temper with me, haven't you?"
Mr Huntley: "Yes."
Mr Latham: "Did you lose your temper with one of these girls on that Sunday evening?"
Mr Huntley: "I had no reason to lose my temper."
Mr Latham: "Did you become the assertive individual you became two minutes ago?"
Mr Huntley: "No I did not."
The defendant denied luring the girls into his home, wanting to get them into his bedroom and holding Holly under the water.
He admits the girls died in his house and that he put their bodies into his car and dumped them in the remote ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, where they were found 13 days later, but he denies the double child murder.