I mentioned the trial of Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr.

Huntley has now been convicted of murder after the jury deliberated for 17 hours.

In the course of the trial, it was stated that Huntley had been charged with rape but acquitted and that he had no criminal record. I noticed that because I knew he took his job as caretaker under an assumed name and I was expecting there would be a criminal record – something the jury is not allowed to know about. By saying you have no criminal record (Vorstrafen), you open up the subject of your antecedents (Vorleben) for examination.

It has now come out that there were a number of incidents:

bq. Humberside Police revealed they had dealt 10 times with Huntley, including four alleged rapes on teenagers, three allegations of having unlawful sex with girls under 16 and an allegation of indecent assault on a 12-year-old girl. No of the charges were proven. …

bq. An inquiry is under way to establish how a sexual predator with a history of targeting under-age girls managed to get a job as a school caretaker.

bq. The authorities involved have admitted that the system of checks failed, allowing a man who had come to the attention of Humberside Police on ten occasions to get the job.

It is interesting to see how much the jury did not hear. All this information will have been announced after conviction.