MAXINE Carr was given a new identity after she tried to help cover up her then-boyfriend Ian Huntley’s double homicide in 2002. 

But the courts decided she played no part in the Soham murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman and she was granted a fresh start.

Who is Maxine Carr?

Maxine Carr was born on February 16, 1977, in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

Carr was viewed by her peers as a timid outcast as a child, with very few friends.

Despite performing poorly academically, she aspired to become a teacher.

In the spring term of 2002, Maxine took a position as a voluntary support assistant at St Andrew’s Primary — the school Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman attended.

She was jailed for giving her boyfriend Ian Huntley a false alibi after he killed 10-year-olds, Holly and Jessica.

Carr infamously turned on Huntley as he sat in the dock during his murder trial, describing him as “that thing in the box”.

She was granted a lifelong anonymity order in 2005, which protects her new identity indefinitely.

In making the order, Mr Justice Eady said that it was necessary to protect Carr’s “life and limb and psychological health”.

Other UK prisoners protected by lifelong anonymity orders include child killer Mary Bell, as well as James Bulger’s murderers Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.

How Carr met Huntley

In 1999, Carr, then aged 22, met 25-year-old Huntley at a nightclub in Grimsby.

According to Carr she was “instantly attracted” to Huntley’s self-confident and pleasant persona, agreeing to start dating him the same evening they met.

Shortly afterward, she moved into the monster’s flat in the town of Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire.

In November 2001, Huntley started a job as a caretaker at Soham Village College and moved into a cottage that came with the job.

Carr, who was living with Huntley in the quiet village, was working as a teaching assistant at the school.

Holly and Jessica’s murders

Best friends Jessica and Holly had been at a barbeque at Holly’s house on August 4, 2002, when they decided to go exploring.

They didn’t tell anyone they were leaving the house and when Holly’s mum realised they were gone she grew concerned.

The two girls were lured into the home of school caretaker Huntley, who later murdered the children.

Hundreds of volunteers and police officers searched the village and surrounding area for nearly two weeks.

The bodies of the girls were subsequently found roughly 10 miles away from where they disappeared.

Huntley was already under suspicion for his behaviour, but Carr told police her then fiancé Huntley had been with her all the time, meaning police initially eliminated him as a suspect.

She also cleaned their house of evidence.

In reality, Maxine had been in Grimsby — at a nightclub with another man.

Both were arrested and Huntley was sentenced to a double life imprisonment with a minimum sentence of 40 years.

Carr was charged with perverting the course of justice after she turned on Huntley during the trial.

Where is Maxine Carr now?

Former classroom assistant Carr served just 21 months of her sentence for perverting the course of justice.

On her release from jail in 2004, she was given a new secret identity amid concerns she would be attacked.

Legal orders gave her lifelong anonymity.

Since her release from prison in 2004, it has cost the taxpayer around £2.5million to provide Carr with a new identity and police protection.

She was moved to more than 10 different safe houses in two years.

In 2011, it was reported by The Mirror that she had given birth to her first child in a secret safe house.

The notorious liar has since rebuilt her life — and even remarried in a lavish ceremony wearing a £2,000 ivory dress.

Despite knowing about her disturbing past, Carr’s besotted boyfriend walked her down the aisle at a luxury wedding venue in 2014.

But her new husband’s relatives were said to be stunned at his decision to marry Carr after learning of her shameful past.

Carr was said to have delighted in being the centre of attention — smiling and joking with guests and bridesmaids before making her way out into the venue’s picturesque grounds.

The 2022 Channel 5 true crime series Maxine left viewers “sickened” to learn that she was able to rebuild her life at the taxpayers’ expense.

One viewer commented: “That’s made me so mad watching #maxine a full lifetime order of protection when she lied and helped that monster Ian Huntley cover up what he did to those two beautiful girls.

“[It] killed me they would have been 30 this year. Awful.”

Netflix purchased the rights to Maxine the year after it aired on C5 — it dropped on the streaming giant on October 5, 2023.