By Sheila Mckenzie-
Detectives in Wiltshire missed “significant opportunities” to bring the double killer Christopher Halliwell to justice sooner for the murder of one of his victims and were slow to search a pond he used as a “trophy store”, an investigation managed by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has found.
Halliwell, a deranged Swindon taxi driver, was arrested in 2011 for the abduction and murder of Sian O’Callaghan, after which he confessed to killing Godden-Edwards and burying her body in a field eight years earlier.
He was jailed for life for O’Callaghan’s murder in 2012, but a judge ruled the Godden-Edwards confession was inadmissible because of the manner in which it was obtained. The police officer leading the search for O’Callaghan, Steve Fulcher, had broken the rules by ordering Halliwell to be taken to a remote hillside where he spoke to him without his lawyer being present.
Halliwell was not brought to trial for Godden-Edwards’ murder until September 2016, when a different judge ruled the confession evidence was admissible. He is serving a whole life term.
The current chief constable, Kier Pritchard, was criticised specifically for his role overseeing the flawed investigation into the death of Becky Godden-Edwards, which the report said was hampered by poor supervision, meaning good lines of inquiry were not immediately pursued and key evidence not forensically examined.
Pritchard faces disciplinary action over his role in the botched Wiltshire Police probe into the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards, 20.
The case could have continued in 2012, had officers had followed up leads and told prosecutors about evidence it was sitting on, the Independent Office for Police Conduct has found.
These included a sample from Halliwell’s spade that was not examined until three years later when it was matched to a rare soil in the field where Becky was found.
There was also evidence from an RAC recovery driver who attended the Swindon taxi driver’s broken-down car six miles from where he buried Becky.
Halliwell, 58, brutally murdered Becky in 2003, and buried her in a field where eight years later he led detective Steve Fulcher after being arrested for the murder of office worker Sian O’Callaghan, 22.
Wiltshire police apologised for its failings and revealed that it had recently commissioned an external review to look at whether Halliwell may have committed other crimes.
Halliwell confessed to killing Miss O’Callaghan six days after abducting her, to Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, and took police to her body before offering “another one” and admitting to Miss Godden’s murder.
He then led police to where he had buried Miss Godden in January 2003.
However, due to negligence in the conduct of the investigation between 2011 and 2014, he was not prosecuted for Miss Godden’s murder until 2016, having previously been jailed for killing Miss O’Callaghan in 2012.
A judge ruled that the way in which his confession was obtained by Mr Fulcher, breached Police and Criminal Evidence Act rules, meaning the charge of murdering Miss Godden was dropped at his first trial.
In a report published on Friday, the IOPC said that between 2011 and 2014 the inquiry into Ms Godden’s death was “poorly progressed and supervised, reasonable lines of inquiry were not pursued, and key evidence was not forensically examined”.
The IOPC noted there had been no senior investigating officer in the case between Mr Fulcher stepping down in the midst of disciplinary proceedings in July 2011, and Detective Inspector Matt Davey being given the role in October 2012
Three outside forces under the Direction of the IOPC looked at the investigation and pinpointed a series of failures that could have resulted in an earlier conviction.
Examples included a soil sample from a spade belonging to Halliwell that was seized when he was arrested in 2011 not being forensically examined until three years later, when it was found to match the field where Godden-Edwards’ body was discovered.
Evidence from an RAC recovery driver who attended to Halliwell’s broken-down vehicle in the early hours of 3 January 2003, six miles from where Godden-Edwards’ body was buried. Police knew of this in 2011 but details of it were established only three years later.
The IOPC highlighted a pond in Ramsbury, Wiltshire, where women’s clothing, including one of O’Callaghan’s boots, was found.
This has been identified as Halliwell’s “trophy store”, but was not investigated until 2014, by which time items had degraded and lost any forensic potential. There has long been speculation, including from Fulcher, that Halliwell may have killed other women.
Murderer: Christopher Halliwell Image: Wilshere Police
A gamekeeper at Ramsbury contacted the police at the time of O’Callaghan’s murder reporting seeing a taxi in the area. If the gamekeeper had been identified and interviewed sooner, Halliwell’s “trophy store” may have been discovered as early as 2011. The relevance of Ramsbury pond was not established until May 2014.
At the time of the Halliwell case, Pritchard was a detective chief superintendent and had overall responsibility for all serious and major crime investigations across the force.
The investigation found he had a case to answer for misconduct in that he did not ensure a sufficiently thorough murder inquiry took place and it was agreed he would receive “management action”.
Fog Of Confusion
The IOPC regional director, Catrin Evans, said: “The force allowed a fog of confusion to develop regarding who was in command. This led to the murder investigation stalling, a lack of appropriate reviews, and obvious lines of inquiry that were potentially capable of securing Halliwell’s conviction being overlooked.”
The force and Pritchard have formally apologised to Godden-Edwards’ family and 10 recommendations made by the IOPC have been addressed.
Godden-Edwards’ mother, Karen Edwards, from Swindon, said she was elated with the outcome of the report and to have finally received an apology after she spent years campaigning to keep the case in the spotlight. “There has been such a failure within Wiltshire police – it is unbelievable,” she said.
Wiltshire’s deputy chief constable, Paul Mills, said: “The force has continued to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry and has, where relevant, worked with other forces, to consider whether Halliwell may be responsible for any further offences. To this end, the force has recently commissioned an external review of the investigation.”