Wiltshire Police apologises to family of Becky Godden after admitting they missed ‘significant opportunities’ to catch her killer Christopher Halliwell sooner
Becky Godden was 20 years old when she was murdered by Christopher Halliwell
Wiltshire Police today apologised to the family of Becky Godden after admitting they missed ‘significant opportunities’ to catch her killer Christopher Halliwell sooner.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found Wiltshire Police’s investigation into the 2003 murder of Becky Godden ‘was poorly progressed and supervised’, adding reasonable lines of inquiry were not pursued and key evidence not examined.
Halliwell strangled Becky In January 2003 and buried her body in a field in Eastleach, Gloucestershire. But her murder only came to light in 2011 when Halliwell was arrested over the disappearance of personal assistant Sian O’Callaghan, 22.
He was jailed for Ms O’Callaghan’s murder in 2012 but the judge had ruled the confession evidence around Ms Godden’s murder was inadmissible due to the manner in which it was obtained, and Halliwell did not face trial for the crime until September 2016 when a different judge ruled the confession was admissible.
The watchdog said there were several lines of inquiry not properly followed by Wiltshire Police, including soil found on a spade belonging to Halliwell in 2011 that was not forensically examined until 2014 which matched rare soil found where Ms Godden was found.
It also found the force had taken evidence from a GP in April 2011 stating Halliwell had visited their surgery in January 2003 with severe scratches to his face and damage to his hand, claiming he had been assaulted by a passenger in his taxi.
The IOPC said senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Matt Davey was inexperienced and that Ms Godden’s death was his first murder inquiry, adding he had been placed in charge ‘without appropriate resourcing, supervision or governance’ in place.
Haliwell was finally jailed for the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards in 2016, having been found guilty of killing Sian O’Callaghan in 2012
The watchdog said neither Mr Davey nor then-deputy chief constable Mike Veale had a case to answer, finding the latter was not responsible for the oversight of the murder inquiry.
IOPC regional director Catrin Evans said: ‘Our sympathies go out to the family of Becky Godden for their awful loss. Mrs Edwards (her mother) has waited patiently for the outcome of the lengthy and complex investigation into her complaint that Halliwell should have brought to justice sooner for her daughter’s murder.
‘Our investigation found serious failings in the way the force handled the murder investigation, after the initial charges relating to Becky’s murder were dropped in February 2012. In our view, the issues that arose stemmed from a combination of systemic weaknesses within the force at the time as well as individual shortcomings.
‘Our investigation indicated that no one in Wiltshire Police took responsibility for ensuring that the murder inquiry progressed effectively.
‘We have been liaising with Wiltshire Police, who have co-operated fully throughout the investigation. They have already acted on a series of recommendations to try to ensure that mistakes the force made over the accountability for, and direction of, this murder investigation are not repeated.
‘The force at the time 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 enquiry that were potentially capable of securing Halliwell’s conviction being overlooked.
‘It was only after DCI Memory took over the murder inquiry, with oversight from 2014 by then-assistant chief constable Pritchard, that earlier missed evidential opportunities were acted on, culminating in Halliwell finally being brought to justice.’
Deputy Chief Constable Paul Mills said today: ‘We have formally apologised to the parents of Becky Godden-Edwards (also known as Rebecca Godden) further to the findings of an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation, that found the Force missed opportunities to bring about the earlier conviction of Christopher Halliwell for Becky’s murder.
‘Halliwell was convicted of Becky’s murder in 2016 but the IOPC investigation, further to a complaint by Becky’s mother, found shortcomings in both the leadership oversight and the conduct of the investigation. This meant that it took four years to convict Halliwell, when the IOPC have found that much of the evidence was available to the investigation team in 2012.
‘We are sincerely and deeply sorry for the impact these avoidable delays in the investigation had on Becky’s family and recognise these have further compounded the terrible pain and loss endured as result of the murder of their much-loved daughter.
‘The complaint allegations made, were directly attributed to three members of Wiltshire Police – two former employees and Chief Constable Kier Pritchard, when he was more junior in rank.
‘We fully accept the findings and recommendations of the IOPC managed investigation, which was undertaken by an external police force.’
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