Holly's parents criticise the handling of case

The parents of Holly Wells have criticised police handling of her case. Nicola and Kevin Wells said that at times police priorities were wrong and information was not given to them about their daughter before it appeared on television.

The family's comments, made in interviews with The Mail on Sunday, contained criticism of how the police conducted the search for the missing girls. They said that on the first full search night, 5 August last year, the police were over-concerned about the health and safety issues involving the crowd of searchers that had gathered when their sole focus should have been on finding the girls. The search was also disorganised, they said.

The Wells were also upset because they felt that they were treated as suspects in the case, and were subjected to a three-hour search of their home at 11pm on that same night.

The family was frustrated that it took 48 hours after the girls' disappearance for the police to treat the case as one of abduction, rather than of runaways.

Their complaints came after Maxine Carr's solicitor denied reports that his client would be having plastic surgery to change her appearance in an effort to avoid attacks after she leaves jail.

But Roy James, in an interview with the BBC, did claim her safety had been put at risk because of "scurrilous and inaccurate" reporting of the Soham murder trial.

Mr James said it was "theoretically" possible for Carr to return home to Grimsby after her release, but said she may opt instead to be given a new identity.

The cost of providing her with a new name, National Insurance number and address would be paid for from public funds, he said.

The publicity about her trial "does affect the public's reaction to her when she is released," he said. "She will be released towards the middle of May next year. This kind of publicity doesn't ensure her safety when she is released."