Huntley victim wins justice fight

Hailey Giblin, 21, was sexually assaulted by Huntley when she was 11, but he was not prosecuted and went on to kill Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Ms Giblin brought a civil case against Huntley, who initially denied the attack in Cleethorpes in 1997 but then reversed his plea from his prison cell. At a hearing on Tuesday at Manchester County Court, District Judge Dick Fairclough was formally told of Huntley's confession.

Speaking afterwards, Ms Giblin, supported by her husband, Colin, 40, said: "I feel a massive sense of relief that Ian Huntley has admitted that in the summer of 1997 he took me, an innocent 11-year-old little girl, from the sanctity of my street to an orchard where I was subject to the most horrific sexual attack at his hands, yet I still feel upset that Huntley was left at large, resulting in the deaths of two innocent children."

Ms Giblin, who is now suing social services over her care after the attack, went on: "This has blighted my life for 10 years now - almost half of my life - and I felt I had no other choice than to fight for justice and fight for what I believe in.

"I hope now that with Ian Huntley admitting his crimes that he committed against me that this will silence my critics. I hope that my story will inspire countless other victims of abuse to not be ignored and simply be a statistic of a rape or abuse.

"I, along with the help of a dedicated legal team, have achieved what the justice system failed to do and proved Ian Huntley for the sadistic paedophile that he really is. I now have a Judgment by Admission awarded to me against Ian Huntley and, although it is of no monetary value, to me it is priceless."

Ms Giblin, from Barton-upon-Humber, north Lincolnshire, added: "I feel I wasn't just the victim of Ian Huntley but also a victim of social services and Humberside Police."

The attack on Ms Giblin took place in 1997 - five years before Huntley murdered 10-year-olds Holly and Jessica in Soham, Cambridgeshire. She reported the attack to Humberside Police in 1998 and 2005 but the Crown Prosecution Service ruled there was not sufficient evidence for a prosecution.

Ms Giblin, who waived her right to anonymity, is thought to have spent around £60,000 in legal fees. On Tuesday, the judge postponed a ruling on the level of damages to be awarded and ordered that a number of police statements should be released to her lawyers. The amount of damages she will be allocated would depend on the outcome of her civil action against social services. It is understood that Huntley, 33, who is serving two life sentences at Wakefield Prison for the murders of Holly and Jessica, is insolvent.