Warders step up Maxine watch

MURDER suspect Ian Huntley has written to fiancee Maxine Carr ending their relationship.

The letter is said to have made tearful Carr even more depressed.

She has been taking catnaps through the day and then waking up and weeping.

She was already on 24-hour suicide watch in her cell at Holloway Prison after being charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in connection with the murders of 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

And now the authorities have put her under even closer watch by the guards.

A prison source said: "Many prisoners become very depressed and vulnerable when they are put inside, particularly when they are isolated.

"Any relationship problems with family or friends outside can obviously trigger a deep depression. Carr was incredibly low as it was, and with this letter she has become even more tearful."

Huntley wrote the "Dear John"-type note in his room at Rampton secure hospital last week.

According to a visitor, Huntley, 28, "thought long and hard" about their relationship before sending the letter. He is said to have realised that, for both him and Carr, life will never be the same again.

It is thought he wants 25-year-old former classroom assistant Carr to be able to find some happiness in the future without him.

The Rampton insider said: "The letter is all part of Huntley putting his affairs in order because of his change in circumstances. "It is not unusual for prisoners in his position to take a look at their lives."

Carr and Huntley, who had been together for three years, have not seen each other since they were arrested almost a month ago.

They met at the start of 1999 when both worked for an insurance firm in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.

They moved in together shortly afterwards and lived in flats and houses around Humberside before moving to Soham from Lincolnshire in September last year.

After Holly and Jessica disappeared, Carr said the girls had asked if they could be bridesmaids at her wedding.

Family members said she and Huntley wanted to get married and have a family.

The Sunday Mirror revealed last week that Carr is getting between 20 and 30 letters of support from members of the public on a daily basis of the "Love is..." type.

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