The caretaker accused of murdering British schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells was "shaken to the core" by the huge media attention following their disappearance, the Old Bailey in London heard today.
Mr Ian Huntley (29) was concerned someone would contact police about a rape allegation he faced in 1998 and say "it must be that dodgy caretaker," his girlfriend, Ms Maxine Carr, told police, the court was told.
Mr Huntley was acquitted of the rape charge following CCTV evidence but told Mr Carr (26), he had to appear on television to prevent people thinking he had something to hide after the girls' disappearance.
The court was hearing further details from Ms Carr's interviews with detectives after her arrest. She said Mr Huntley was not capable of killing the two 10-year-olds.
"He couldn't have killed them. He wouldn't hurt anybody. He is a very emotional person. He wouldn't have the strength of mind to go through with something like that," she said, according to a transcript read out in court.
"He was upset and said the police or the press had told him he was the last to see the girls alive," she said "He said people were knocking on the door and it shook him to the core."
Mr Huntley, who denies murdering the girls, has already admitted removing their dead bodies and taking them in his car to woodland where he dumped them in a ditch and cut off their clothes. The bodies were found on August 17th last year in a ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk about 15 miles from their homes in Soham.
Ms Carr denies assisting an offender and conspiring to pervert the course of justice.