IT would be easy - and popular - to say that Maxine Carr should be treated like any other released prisoner and should be made to face up to society for her crime.

After all, she was linked to one of the most horrific and heartbreaking murder cases in recent history.

It would be easy and popular, but it would be wrong. Had she not been granted indefinite anonymity, she would almost certainly have been attacked, and possibly killed, sooner or later.

Carr is guilty of being Ian Huntley's girlfriend and conspiring to pervert the course of justice by giving him a false alibi. It is undoubtedly a serious crime, but she did not murder Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

Carr has slotted neatly into the vacancy for vilification left by Myra Hindley. Her name will be forever associated with evil.

Even under the permanent cloak of anonymity granted by the High Court yesterday, she already has a life sentence of looking over her shoulder, wondering who might know who she is, and who might be ready to inflict do-it-yourself justice.

It is right that she should live the rest of her life with a sense of shame for the role - the comparatively minor role - she played in an unforgettable crime.

But she is not like other prisoners. She has been elevated to a rare level of public hatred.

And it is not right that she should be exposed to that hatred without some attempt to protect her.