THE Chief Constable of Humberside, David Westwood, will have won few friends with his performance in the light of the Soham verdicts.

His delivery was cold and monotonous. It was as if he was reading out a shopping list, not reflecting on a chain of events that ended with the death of two schoolgirls.

To then walk out half way through an interview - particularly when it is with a high-profile journalist like Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman - looked defeatist.

One thing I have learned over the years is that TV journalists are often not interested in the facts - the primary concern is what they term "good TV". Provoking a chief constable to walk out makes the headlines and adds to Mr Paxman's carefully nurtured Rottweiler image.

So the chief constable is not media savvy, but that's no reason to hang him. He deserves credit because he stuck his own head above the parapet, rather than get a junior to face the music as many in his position would have done.

The man to blame for these appalling crimes is Ian Huntley, no one else.

I agree with Jessica's father, Leslie Chapman, who said Huntley was a "timebomb" and the girls were in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it hadn't been Holly and Jessica, it would have been someone else's daughter.

Just because lessons can be learned, it doesn't mean an individual, apart from Huntley, is necessary culpable. There is such a thing as institutional failure.

Those who now suggest every scrap of intelligence about someone should be kept on a computer database need to consider the implications.

They will play into the hands of those who make false and malicious allegations in order to cause someone a problem.

Not only would that person face a police inquiry, they would also have it on their record forever. In addition, the police database would be in danger of crashing, the amount of information to be added would be immense.

Alternatively, if someone discovered that the police had illegally been holding information about them on computer they may well sue. Who knows, perhaps Mr Westwood's equivalent might find himself on TV being asked by Jeremy Paxman why the police keep secret, illegal files on people with no criminal convictions.

I'm not convinced we need a public inquiry into what went on. It will achieve little apart from dragging the whole distressing affair once again through the media spotlight on a daily basis.

We'd be far better off with a Royal Commission-type inquiry that could look clearly and rationally into the question of how police use and store intelligence.

It could then draw up a definitive guide for all forces and, of course, report publicly on any conclusions.

Every right-minded person will have immense sympathy for the families of Holly and Jessica; they have borne their burden with incredible dignity.

I have nothing but admiration for them, but I must admit I also have a little sympathy for David Westwood.

Published: 19/12/2003