His story is a true story, and one which . In essence, Fulcher was using his experience to make a judgment call a call that took him on another car journey with Halliwell to rural Gloucestershire. Halliwells father lived a few streets from the home of chef Claudia Lawrence, who has been missing since March 19, 2009. "But we certainly don't get into any of the specifics of those other cases that have been attached there are other murders up and down the country that are now attached to Halliwell, and we absolutely scrupulously did not get into any of that. Two and a half years on, Becky Goddens mother has, at least, seen justice served in no small part thanks to her own vigorous campaigning to ensure her daughters murder wasnt forgotten. It later transpired that Fulcher, when arresting Halliwell, acted on the instinct that Halliwell may have been responsible for the disappearance of Becky Godden-Edwards, who had been reported missing in 2007 and pressed him for details. Halliwell, 55, had already admitted murdering Sian in Swindon in 2011, but DS Fulcher's intervention saw him confess to killing Becky Godden 20 years earlier as well. 'I am really open-minded there is an eight-year gap between Becky and Sian,' Memory said. So I thanked him and explained that he would be given his rights, taken back to the police station, 'I interpreted "you and I should have a chat" as some quid pro quo, I thought he would want the deal in terms of me catering for his family who would be affected by his incarceration.'. A Confession which starts on ITV on Monday 2 September at 9pm relives the shocking case of Sian OCallaghan who was murdered by local taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, and how Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher solved the crime, but was punished for his conduct. 10:45 GMT 24 Sep 2016, By the way, it was a pleasure ruining your career, you corrupt b*****d.. If we mention one of those names a family might think, 'oh, I wonder if' So we very carefully say, 'We believe there are other victims,' and leave it at that. However, Fulcher had taken Halliwell to a field in the Wiltshire countryside for this discussion without cautioning him or allowing him access to a solicitor. You might think that witness statement would be taken, but it never has been to my knowledge. Around the pond were not six other items of womens clothing. A wealth of experience which was brought to bear when, on March 19th 2011, office administrator Sian OCallaghan was reported missing by her boyfriend after being last seen outside a nightclub in Swindon town centre in the small hours. It didnt end there. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. The delay in Halliwells trial with all the resulting trauma was entirely down to an obsession with procedure, rather than the pursuit of justice. After joining the Wiltshire force in 2003, Fulcher was promoted to Detective Superintendent. In May 2014, Fulcher resigned from Wiltshire Police. I made that clear back in 2011.. Senior investigating officer Steve Fulcher was found not to have followed procedures on the treatment of suspects, meaning Halliwell's confession was inadmissible in court. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 25 years. It isnt and it hasnt been. "Further to the hearing, Steve Fulcher was found guilty of two counts of gross misconduct (the execution of his duty and inappropriate contact with the media) and received two final written warnings, but remained a member of Wiltshire Police. State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio lost $9.5 billion, which represents 9.64% of the . He was an experienced police officer who knew what he was doing. It was a moment which, perhaps better than any other, summed up the monstrous injustice meted out to DS Fulcher and exposed the deeply warped priorities of our legal system. However in a new one-off ITV documentary, To Catch a Serial Killer, DS Fulcher insists he did the right thing, saying: 'My view is that I have brought two daughters back to their mothers and I've prevented other victims resulting from Halliwell's continued pursuit of his career as a serial killer. This investigation damaged Fulcher's career as a senior police officer, and despite keeping his job with a final written warning in January 2014, he resigned from the force in May of that year. There was no sign of a baby when they came by". Its an almost insoluble problem. That girl, we now know, was poor Becky Godden, a much loved daughter who had fallen into drug addiction, prostitution and, ultimately, Halliwells evil hands. As Steve Fulcher tells of his battle with pen-pushers and myopic box-tickers within the police service, one thing is clear: the treatment received by this senior officer is enough to drive anyone to despair at the insanity of our legal system, one in which an obsession with process has taken precedence over the rights of victims and their families. When OCallaghan was reported missing on 19 March 2011, DS Steve Fulcher of Wiltshire Police was brought in to lead the case. The taxi belonged to Halliwell, who told his company he had gone home at 1.30am - much earlier than Sian had disappeared. He still believes he made the right decisions on that day. It also meant Halliwell was able to evade justice for Becky's murder when he was found guilty of Sian's killing in 2012. Catching a double killer led to Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher being hailed a hero by the families and twice nominated for a Queens Police Medal. Fearing he was planning to overdose, the police swooped in and arrested him in an Asda car park in north Swindon, charging him with the kidnap (not murder) of Sian. Martin Freeman plays Det Supt Fulcher, Imelda Staunton is Karen Edwards, Beckys mother, Siobhan Finneran features as Elaine Pickford, Sians mother. But for my course of action Becky would still be in that field, Sian would never be found and Christopher Halliwell would be walking the streets.. Effectively unemployable by British police, he now works as a consultant on policing in Somalia, taking him away from home for long periods. 11:00 GMT 03 Sep 2019. Steve says Halliwell then asked him, "Do you want another one?"'. Fulcher was disciplined for misconduct and later resigned, losing his 500,000 police pension and selling his house. Thankfully, circumstantial and forensic evidence ensured Halliwell, 52, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for killing Miss OCallaghan. Then he said Have you got a car, lets go. It is possible that there were other victims before or after Becky but he has never been charged or convicted of any other murders. By Naturally, trying to ensure this places huge pressure on senior officers. A suspect soon popped up in the shape of taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, whose green Toyota Avensis had been seen near the nightclub and close to Savernake Forest, where Sians mobile had last given off a signal. 'Just in the minutes before Sian vanished, one of the police cars had filmed a Toyota Avensis driving the other way, and it had the number plate.'. But a judge ruled his confession about Becky Godden inadmissible because DS Fulcher had repeatedly failed to correctly caution the killer and questioned him without a lawyer. She and Halliwell lived on the same street. He just found it so difficult because youve managed to take him straight back into the most awful events of his life.. September 5, 2016 - Halliwell goes on trial at Bristol Crown Court for Miss Godden's murder. Sian OCallaghans family certainly think so, as does Becky Goddens mother Karen. The public needs to know what the police wont do if their own daughter went missing. Instead, seeing a window of opportunity, hed driven him to the field where Halliwell claimed another body would be found. A young woman called Becky Godden-Edwards had gone missing a number of years before, last seen in 2002 or 2003. Steve Fulcher placed Halliwell under surveillance and he was seen cleaning his car, disposing of materials in litter bins, and burning objects at night. 14 Aug 2019 ITV ITV's A Confession throws up an unimaginable ethical dilemma that real-life Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher faced in 2011: break police protocol to catch a serial killer. He's not forensically linked to outstanding cases. He wanted to use what he believed were emergency powers, to be used only when there is an imminent threat to life. Steve recalls how a kidnap inquiry was launched after Sian went missing in the early hours of Saturday, March 19, 2011. Martin Freeman plays DS Stephen Fulcher in new ITV drama A Confession. And where had they gone next? In March 2011, Sian OCallaghan vanished on a night out in Swindon. The lives of Sian OCallaghan, 22, and Becky Godden, 20, had been callously cut short by taxi driver Halliwell, who guided Fulcher to their bodies. AN early suspect in Sians murder was one of Steves bosses Deputy Chief Constable of Wiltshire Dave Ainsworth. Instead of bringing Halliwell back to Gablecross police station in Swindon where he would have had access to a solicitor, Fulcher ordered his officers to take Halliwell to a nearby Iron Age hill fort called Barbury Castle. Two months later, dismayed at Wiltshires Forces disinterest in both reinforcing the charges related to Becky Goddens murder and other potential victims, Fulcher asked to be reassigned to the National Homicide Team. It took a jury just two hours to find him guilty. The CPS should have appealed. Why on earth had this killer been given every conceivable privilege, while a brave, upstanding detective was hung out to dry? By then, Halliwell had been charged with Sian OCallaghans murder he had stabbed her to death before dumping her body and placed on technical bail (where bail is granted as the accused is already in custody) for the murder of the as-yet-unidentified woman. But back then it seems the Wiltshire Force was more preoccupied with a crusade against an officer for failing to follow procedure even when obeying that procedure could have prevented two grieving families gaining a terrible, final closure. Drivers warned over incoming hike in petrol and diesel prices amid two key changes, "Its really important that we dont have any particular day where fuel goes up very dramatically", Limerick woman 'lucky to be alive' after being held captive, beaten and doused with acid in horror attack. He learned the CPS were considering bringing charges against him for malfeasance in public office. But a secret trophy store of 60 items of womens clothing suggests dozens more victims may have been raped or killed by him. This almost derailed the court case against Halliwell and called into question one of the most important principles of the criminal justice system. But only this week, five-and-a-half years after he led Fulcher to her remains, was he convicted of the murder of Becky Godden, at last bringing closure to her anguished family. I gave [Halliwell] a cigarette and he asked to talk to me. Former cop Steve Fulcher says: Are you seriously telling me that on two occasions he brutally murdered two women and then theres nothing before or since?. Fulcher himself spent hours questioning Halliwell at Barbury Castle, breaking down his defences and sharing his cigarettes and forming a connection. By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. I acted in good faith to save a life, and to recover a body we did not previously know about.. Kathryn Knight for the Daily Mail His actions compromised the court case against Halliwell and called into question one of the most important principles of the criminal justice system, the PACE guidelines. First he dumped her body near his sick stash at Ramsbury. He lost his police pension worth 500,000, had to sell his house and now works training police in war-torn Somalia. This is a charge that usually applies to corrupt officials, not someone dealing with a serial killer.. Jeff Pope, Executive Producer and Writer - explains PACE. I wondered, did they belong to the six other victims I suspected Halliwell of killing? Christopher Halliwells lawyers argued successfully that the confession should not be put before a jury. Anticipating Halliwells suicide risk, Fulcher arranged an interview team to conduct a Safety Interview, under caution, at the scene of his arrest. No trace of her has ever been found. Steve is convinced Halliwell murdered others after he revealed he had buried Becky Godden in a 5ft hole. He was scrolling through pictures on his phone of other women, leading me to suspect there were other victims. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. He took the team to a field in Gloucestershire where the remains of a second woman were later found. Theres no question in my mind Halliwell murdered other girls, Fulcher says. TWISTED Christopher Halliwell could be one of Britains worst serial killers, says the detective who put him behind bars. Their sentiments, however, are not shared by the police or the legal system. Jeff Pope's new ITV drama A Confession stars Martin Freeman as Detective Steve Fulcher, whose hunt for missing 22-year-old Sian O'Callaghan led him into an extraordinary situation in 2011. He drove a car similar to one spotted on CCTV at the time of Sians disappearance. It seemed astonishing to me they were not pursing lines of enquiry. 23:33 GMT 23 Sep 2016 Moreover, as forensic officers set to work, Fulcher was unprepared for what came next. When Halliwells confession about the location of Beckys body was ruled inadmissible in court, other officers continued the hunt for more evidence and unearthed the trophy stash in 2014. Fulcher has lost his career, he works as a security consultant in Africa. , updated It is a colossal effort. "I deliberately and very carefully didn't get into specifics of other victims," writer Jeff Pope said. Indeed, it was only thanks to Fulchers instincts honed from 25 years of painstaking investigations and cat and mouse detective work that two young murder victims had been found. The CPS and senior police figures panicked, Fulcher says. What are the ramifications of that? The offending behaviour for Becky was cold and calculated. His career was in tatters. Fulcher has broadly received the support of the victims' families. But Fulcher had taken a different course: 'We drove for about 45 minutes trying to keep him in the moment. This, despite the fact he had caught Halliwell, a murderer and possible serial killer. Monday 7 October 2019, 5:22pm. In January 2003Becky Godden, then aged 20, is last seen alive after getting into a taxi outside Destiny & Desire nightclub in Swindon. The comments below have not been moderated, By By effectively acting to ensure Halliwells life was preserved, I was potentially going to cause the death of his victim, he recalls. How far should the police go in securing a confession and bringing a killer to justice? Worse was to come: as the year unfolded, Fulcher learned that Halliwells legal team would attempt to get the charges thrown out on the basis that Fulcher had not adequately followed PACE guidelines. The senior echelons arent police officers at all. September 19, 2016 - Halliwell is convicted of Miss Godden's murder. But on that same afternoon, Halliwell was observed buying a large quantity of pills. Officers arrested Halliwell, but rather than read him his rights, provide him with a lawyer and bring him to a police station, Det Supt Fulcher said he wanted to speak with Halliwell man-to-man.. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. 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