Bellfield Victim's Family Want Police Review
Thursday 23 June 2011 18:23, UK
The family of a woman killed by Levi Bellfield after he murdered Milly Dowler have called for a review into whether police could have prevented her death.
Marsha McDonnell's family said they wanted to know if Surrey Police should be held accountable for their loss.
After , he went on to murder Miss McDonnell, 19, and another woman, Amelie Delagrange, and attempt to murder Kate Sheedy in 2004.
Bellfield was jailed for life for those crimes in 2008 and was told he would never be released.
Miss McDonnell's family praised police for securing Bellfield's latest conviction, but said they could not do so with a "clear conscience" without a review into the way officers investigated Milly's death.
If mistakes were made, they said, the same errors must never happen again.
The family said in a statement: "Our first thoughts are with Milly Dowler’s family. We hope that, even after all this time, this conviction brings them the same small amount of closure as Bellfield’s conviction in 2008 brought to our family.
"We were appalled, along with the rest of the nation, at the disgraceful treatment they were subjected to in court and we hope they are still able to salvage some good from today's result. Our hearts go out to them.
"Following the progress of this trial, the question never far from our minds was, 'Could anything have been done differently, following Milly's disappearance and subsequent murder, that could have prevented Bellfield from being able to go on to commit the further heinous crimes that have blighted so many lives and took from us our beloved Marsha?'
"One only has to listen to the testimony of Emma Mills to realise how close Bellfield could have come to being apprehended much sooner than he was.
"It may have taken only one more small event such as the CCTV footage of the red car or indeed a routine visit by the police, to have given Ms Mills the confidence to allow her to voice her suspicions.
"While we commend Surrey Police for the work performed in bringing about today's conviction, we cannot with clear conscience, do so without calling upon the relevant authority to instigate a very precise review of all that went on in that initial investigation by the Surrey force into Milly's disappearance and subsequent murder."