BRITAIN: The British prison service faced mounting criticism yesterday after claims that a major security lapse allowed an undercover journalist using bogus references to get a job guarding Soham murders suspect Mr Ian Huntley.
The News of the World newspaper has printed pictures of Mr Huntley - charged with the Soham schoolgirl murders that shocked Britain last summer - which they say were taken by reporter David McGee.
The reporter said he called the Woodhill prison in Buckinghamshire to ask for a job and within 13 weeks worked as the sole guard minding Mr Huntley.
McGee said he gave false information on his job application, including the wrong address and a bogus personal reference from a convicted criminal.
The inquiry is a further embarrassment for the prison service following Mr Huntley's suicide attempt last week. This occurred in spite of the fact that he was constantly watched to ensure he did not try to take his life. McGee had left the prison by May 16th.
"We are very concerned about the allegations in a Sunday newspaper that a reporter was employed at HMP Woodhill," a prison service spokesman said.
"The deputy director general has commissioned an investigation, which will be conducted by a senior manager from the prison service."
The former school caretaker has denied murdering 10-year-old friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. Their bodies were found in a ditch after they vanished last August.
His girlfriend at the time of the deaths, Ms Maxine Carr, has denied two charges of helping an offender and a charge of perverting the course of justice.
Mr Carr and Ms Huntley were arrested two weeks after Holly and Jessica vanished from the small Cambridgeshire town of Soham. The disappearances led to one of the country's biggest manhunts, and the discovery of their bodies sparked debate about reintroducing the death penalty. - (Reuters, PA)