Maxine even thinner

MAXINE Carr has been moved to the hospital wing at Holloway Prison because of serious concerns about her dramatic weight loss.

The 25-year-old Soham accused was transferred on Wednesday from the special segregation unit in the jailto a hospital cell known as "The Gated Room" because it has bars on the front wall.

A prison source said: "There is a lot of concern about the amount of weight she has lost."

"She has deteriorated fast. She looks waif-like now. She was always very thin but now she is positively skeletal."

Carr is accused of perverting the course of justice during the police inquiry into the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire.

Her lover, caretaker Ian Huntley, 28, is on remand in Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes, Bucks, accused of murdering the 10-year-old girls.

"Before she was moved on Wednesday they told her about it and gave her a little time to get used to the idea. Then the prison officers came in and moved her. They were concerned about her.

"She has not been eating and just picks at her food. They have been giving her weight-gain drinks. They have not done anything invasive yet like tube feeding her."

"Now she lies on the bed in the hospital wing virtually all day in her nightie - a standard prison issue night dress, a long white T- shirt looking thing with a pattern on.

"She is in there for the foreseeable future. It's not a good sign."

Carr is said to spend her days on the medical ward sleeping or reading. She has developed a passion for gritty thrillers by the authors Sidney Sheldon and Martina Cole.

The former primary school teaching assistant has a single cell with a bed and toilet. It does not have a door; just bars to allow 24- hour observation.

The hospital wing is on the ground floor of the prison and is staffed by operational support staff not fully trained warders or medical personnel.

Maxine's latest health scare comes just a month after she was rushed to nearby Whittington Hospital in North London after collapsing in her cell.

She was put on a drip to build up her strength after the stress of the case and life in jail brought on a relapse of her eating disorder anorexia nervosa.

Last month the Sunday Mirror revealed that some warders were angry at the treatment Maxine receives at Holloway and had produced a spoof notice.

The 14-point document highlighted allegations by warders that the jail's only current Category A inmate is getting special treatment whilst she is on remand.

The pamphlet said: "General prison rules will be bent or broken to accommodate Cat A's requests."

Both Carr and Huntley are due to appear at the Old Bailey next year.

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