Soham still suffers one year on

A year after the murders of the schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the people of Soham are still struggling to comprehend a crime which focused the world's attention on their quiet Cambridgeshire village.

At around 6pm on 4 August 2002, a chain of events began which was to propel the small village of Soham to international notoriety, where it unhappily joined such places as Saddleworth Moor, Hungerford and Dunblane.

Emotions are still raw in Soham

Wearing matching Manchester United football shirts, the 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman left a family barbecue. After 13 days of searching, the police - who were watched at every step by a legion of reporters - announced that the bodies of the girls had been found.

Frank Murphy, a psychologist who worked with the villagers even before that heartbreaking discovery, says what the community has experienced is without precedent.

Soham was at the centre of "worldwide grieving... on a scale that outstripped even the death of Diana," he says.

An internet site was set up to for those outside the village wishing to post their condolences, says Mr Murphy. "We had responses on that website from every nation on the planet."

But however much the tragedy of the girls' deaths resonated with people around the globe, it was, of course, in Soham where the hurt was most keenly felt.

The murders touched the entire community

"Amongst classmates, amongst [teaching] staff, amongst parents, indeed amongst the whole community there has been a very deep, distressing level of sadness," says Mr Murphy, who has kept a particular watch on Soham's children.

He says that in identifying the signs of stress and grieving in the children - such as loss of concentration or appetite - he has also been given a glimpse of the wider picture of suffering.

"Although you may sometimes simplistically think the problems are located with an individual pupil, it could well be that entire families are experiencing distress - and you are only seeing a part of the jigsaw."

Geoff Fisher, head of Holly and Jessica's school, says that although his staff have worked hard to restore normal classroom routines, memories of last year's tragedy are still raw.

"We are naturally apprehensive about the anniversary. There are very sensitive children, and very sensitive adults, who if they are reminded of Holly and Jessica need some comforting and help."

Geoff Fisher: 'We have come through the year.'

Mr Fisher says a special effort was made to win the trust of pupils so that they would not hesitate to approach staff with any troubling feelings. This extra effort, added to the normal strains of running a school, left people exhausted "physically and mentally."

"By late November everybody was drained. That was a difficult time. There is now a sense of relief that we have come through the year."

St Andrews Church, whose tower dominates this village in the flat fenlands, became a gathering place for those mourning Holly and Jessica. Its vicar, Reverend Tim Alban Jones, says this immense sorrowing has yet to abate.

"If you came here unaware of events of the last 12 months, at first sight you wouldn't notice there was anything unusual about Soham. But under the surface - and perhaps not far under the surface - there is a strong sense that we have been through some quite extraordinary times."

Mr Alban Jones, who became a spokesman for the traumatised community as journalists from around the world descended on Soham, says that even if the case has dimmed in the national consciousness "not even a day goes by when we here are not reminded of the tragedy".

Reverend Tim Alban Jones: 'Soham is stronger'

With this anniversary and the upcoming trial of Ian Huntley - a former caretaker at Soham Village College and the man accused of killing Holly and Jessica - Mr Alban Jones says local people will continue to "stand together and pull together".

"The community is stronger as a result of the last 12 months. Soham is a good place to live, I'm lucky to be vicar here. But it's worth knowing about Soham for other reasons than the events of last August. I hope in time this balance will be restored."