Family say they believe in an 'eye for an eye' as Bellfield is told he must serve a 'whole life' term
- 'The length the system goes to, to protect his human rights seems so unfair', says mother Sally Dowler
- Milly's sister Gemma said 'he took away my beautiful sister' and will now be 'living off taxpayers' money"
Gemma, 25, said Levi Bellfield should face ‘the ultimate price – an eye for an eye, a life for a life’.
Fighting back tears after the serial murderer was given another whole-life sentence, she said: ‘He took away my beautiful sister and he will now spend the rest of his life living off taxpayers’ money. In my eyes, no real justice has been done.’
Milly's father Bob Dowler reads out a statement outside the Old Bailey as his daughter Gemma, 25, leans on his shoulder. Looking up at him, right, is his wife, Sally"
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| Sentenced: Levi Bellfield was handed a life sentence today for the murder of Milly" |
PRETTY Milly" R.I.P. AMEN"
On the eve of what would have been Milly’s 23rd birthday, her 51-year-old mother Sally, a teacher, said she hoped Bellfield would be treated with the same brutality he inflicted on her daughter – and that his time in prison would be ‘a life of hell’.
And her husband Bob said his family had paid ‘too high a price’ for the ex-nightclub bouncer’s conviction – saying the hearing had been a ‘mentally scarring process’ which effectively put them on trial.
Although the Dowlers suffered brutal cross-examination about their family secrets, Bellfield himself enjoyed the protection of the court. His lawyers persuaded the judge to rule as inadmissible damning evidence which revealed how his girlfriends were forced to dress up as schoolgirls and how he leered at young women waiting for buses.
Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said the treatment of the Dowlers raised ‘fundamental questions’ and would be the subject of an inquiry into the way victims’ relatives are dealt with by courts.
‘Those questions require answers and we will be contributing to the review by the Ministry of Justice into all aspects of victim support.’
The Dowlers’ comments came after Mr Justice Wilkie ordered Bellfield to stay in jail until he dies – and said ‘all our hearts go out’ to Milly’s family for what he described as the indescribable agonies they had endured in the nine years since she was abducted.
The judge described 43-year-old Bellfield as ‘a cruel and pitiless killer’, and told the family: ‘Milly’s memory will survive and be cherished long after he is forgotten.’
The final chapter in the story of Milly’s murder unfolded at the Old Bailey at the culmination of seven arduous weeks for the Dowlers in which the pain of what happened in March 2002 was callously rekindled.
Both Mr and Mrs Dowler broke down in the witness box as they were cross-examined – and had to listen to a deeply distressing picture being painted of a tormented teenager whose adolescent self-loathing apparently led her to consider suicide.
Police have apologised to the Dowlers for errors made during the inquiry. They targeted Milly’s father as their prime suspect and failed to realise that Bellfield had been living just yards from where Milly vanished in March 2002. The families of Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange – both killed by Bellfield after Milly – have already called for inquiries into the handling of the case.
Victims Commissioner Louise Casey said: ‘Victims do not have rights. What today’s case has highlighted to me is, what happened to Mr and Mrs Dowler is appalling.’
Sally Dowler, who taught at Milly’s school, broke down during her evidence and collapsed at the end of the trial. Yesterday she summoned all her strength to speak of her ‘darling daughter’.
She said that it was a relief that Bellfield had been convicted but the court case had been agonising for them.
Mr Dowler, 51, said: 'For us, the trial has been a truly awful experience. We have felt that our family - who have already suffered so much - has been on trial as much as Mr Bellfield.
We have had to hear Milly's name defamed in court, she has been portrayed as an unhappy, depressed young girl. The Milly we knew was a happy, vivacious, fun-loving girl.
Our family life has been scrutinised and laid open for everyone to inspect and comment upon. We have had to lose our right to privacy and sit through day after harrowing day of a trial in order to get a man convicted of this brutal murder.
'To actually see that man in court, a man capable of such a vile and inhuman crime, has been grotesque and distressing for us.
Grief: Flowers are laid for schoolgirl Milly Dowler outside Heathside School, Weybridge, in September 2002 after her body was found"
Sally Dowler, front, said today: 'We have had to lose our right to privacy and sit through day after harrowing day of a trial in order to get a man convicted of this brutal murder'
Milly’s father, a 59-year-old IT consultant, was close to tears as he said it would have been her 23rd birthday today.
He described Bellfield as ‘spineless and gutless’ for failing to turn up in court for sentencing.’
'We do not see this as true justice for Milly, merely a criminal conviction. My family has had to pay too high a price for this conviction,' he said.
'The pain and agony that we have endured as a family since the 21st March 2002, has been compounded by the devastating effects of this trial.
The trial has been a truly mentally scarring experience on an unimaginable scale.
'The trial has been a truly horrifying ordeal for my family, we have had to relive all the emotions and thoughts of nine years ago when Milly first went missing and was then found murdered.
During our questioning my wife and I both felt as though we were on trial. The questioning of my wife was particularly cruel and inhuman, resulting in her collapsing after leaving the stand.
'We despair of a justice system which is so loaded in favour of the perpetrator of the crime.'
Roger Coe-Salazar, chief crown prosecutor in the South East, said that while prosecutors objected to the questioning by Bellfield’s defence team ‘wherever we legitimately could’, the accused must always be able to ‘advance his defence before a jury’.
Bellfield has been linked to the hammer murders of Lin Russell,on the top phot and her daughter Megan"
BELLFIELD BRAGGED ABOUT RAPING DISABLED GIRL,' SAYS EX-WIFE
Levi Bellfield bragged to his ex-wife about how he lifted a disabled girl out of her wheelchair before raping her on his car bonnet.
The former nightclub bouncer would frequently boast about carrying out depraved attacks on woman according to his ex-wife Johanna Collings, 38, who said she was kept as a sex slave in the 1990s.
She told how he would come home and claim that he had raped one or even two women in a night – but threaten them so they did not go to police.
The ex-wife told how he would burn cigarettes on her, beat her, threw her down the stairs and once set upon her with a claw hammer.
She told the Daily Mirror: ‘He would tell me straight out if he had raped a girl, or even two on an evening. He’d laugh and say they deserved it.
‘He warned them what would happen if they went to police. I was just too scared to even think of saying anything.’
Johanna Collings, who fathered two of the killer’s children, revealed that the bouncer described blondes as ‘evil f****** bitches who must die’.
Ex-girlfriend Emma Mills, who met Bellfield in a nightclub when she was 18, revealed she suffered he would frequently attack and rape her.
She fathered three of his 11 children – but said their relationship turned violent after just six
The former nightclub bouncer would frequently boast about carrying out depraved attacks on woman according to his ex-wife Johanna Collings, 38, who said she was kept as a sex slave in the 1990s.
She told how he would come home and claim that he had raped one or even two women in a night – but threaten them so they did not go to police.
The ex-wife told how he would burn cigarettes on her, beat her, threw her down the stairs and once set upon her with a claw hammer.
She told the Daily Mirror: ‘He would tell me straight out if he had raped a girl, or even two on an evening. He’d laugh and say they deserved it.
‘He warned them what would happen if they went to police. I was just too scared to even think of saying anything.’
Johanna Collings, who fathered two of the killer’s children, revealed that the bouncer described blondes as ‘evil f****** bitches who must die’.
Ex-girlfriend Emma Mills, who met Bellfield in a nightclub when she was 18, revealed she suffered he would frequently attack and rape her.
She fathered three of his 11 children – but said their relationship turned violent after just six
Doting father: Mr Dowler faced intense scrutiny from defence lawyers over his porn interest and fetishes"
Sally Dowler leaving court yesterday after she broke down on hearing the verdict"
STATEMENT FROM GEMMA DOWLER
The past few months have been some of the toughest times for the whole family. I can honestly say that the day my mother and father were questioned by the defence QC, was the worst day of my life. It is hard to believe but it was worse than when I heard the news that the remains were that of my sister Milly.
The way my parents were questioned can only be described as mental torture. Have they not suffered enough? I will remember that day for the rest of my life.
The way they can portray my lovely sister as a depressed teenager has shocked me terribly, the worst part being that she isn’t here to defend herself. To have to listen to that was emotionally scarring. The scales seem to be tipped so much towards the defendant rather than us; the family who have suffered an almighty loss. It feels like we are the criminals and our family has been on trial.
She was the best sister anyone could ask for she was a shoulder for me to cry on, a fashion guru, a person who could make you laugh even when you felt sad and she would light up a room as soon as she entered. She really was a star, and on dark nights I look out at the sky and there almost seems to be a star shining brighter than the rest I am sure this is Milly watching over me.
When this all happened nine years ago I was only 16. I had no other choice but to grow up. I feel I missed out on some wonderful teenage years. I waved goodbye to the happy family we were and I realised life would never be the same again. The past nine years have tested our relationship as a family; there have been extremely bad days but we still manage some good days. Sadly it is those good days when we realise that there is somebody missing and then I will spend the next day feeling guilty for enjoying myself.
It had taken me a long time to get to some kind of normal life for a 25 year old but I felt I was getting there; now I feel like all my hard work has been undone. I have not been able to go to work for the past couple of weeks as it takes far too much concentration, which I lack as I am under so much stress.
I often asked why, why us, why our family, and most of all why Milly? I now know the answer and that is simply Milly was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there is nothing I can do to change that.
With regard to the question of justice, in my eyes justice is ‘an eye for an eye’. You brutally murder someone then you pay the ultimate price.... ‘a life for a life’.
So in my eyes no real justice has been done, he took away my beautiful sister and he will now spend the rest of his time living off of taxpayers’ money!
The way they can portray my lovely sister as a depressed teenager has shocked me terribly, the worst part being that she isn’t here to defend herself. To have to listen to that was emotionally scarring. The scales seem to be tipped so much towards the defendant rather than us; the family who have suffered an almighty loss. It feels like we are the criminals and our family has been on trial.
She was the best sister anyone could ask for she was a shoulder for me to cry on, a fashion guru, a person who could make you laugh even when you felt sad and she would light up a room as soon as she entered. She really was a star, and on dark nights I look out at the sky and there almost seems to be a star shining brighter than the rest I am sure this is Milly watching over me.
When this all happened nine years ago I was only 16. I had no other choice but to grow up. I feel I missed out on some wonderful teenage years. I waved goodbye to the happy family we were and I realised life would never be the same again. The past nine years have tested our relationship as a family; there have been extremely bad days but we still manage some good days. Sadly it is those good days when we realise that there is somebody missing and then I will spend the next day feeling guilty for enjoying myself.
It had taken me a long time to get to some kind of normal life for a 25 year old but I felt I was getting there; now I feel like all my hard work has been undone. I have not been able to go to work for the past couple of weeks as it takes far too much concentration, which I lack as I am under so much stress.
I often asked why, why us, why our family, and most of all why Milly? I now know the answer and that is simply Milly was in the wrong place at the wrong time and there is nothing I can do to change that.
With regard to the question of justice, in my eyes justice is ‘an eye for an eye’. You brutally murder someone then you pay the ultimate price.... ‘a life for a life’.
So in my eyes no real justice has been done, he took away my beautiful sister and he will now spend the rest of his time living off of taxpayers’ money!
STATEMENT FROM BOB DOWLER
We do not see this as true justice for Milly, merely a criminal conviction. My family has had to pay too high a price for this conviction.
The pain and agony that we have endured as a family since 21st March 2002 has been compounded by the devastating effects of this trial.
Prior to this trial my family and I had only an ordinary person’s understanding of the legal process.
However, during the past seven weeks our eyes have been well and truly opened. The trial has been a truly mentally scarring experience on an unimaginable scale – you would have to have been there to truly understand. Things that you would not believe could ever happen, DID IN FACT HAPPEN.
During the past nine years there have been many occasions when the police investigation has left us in despair. The trial has been a truly horrifying ordeal for my family. We have had to relive all the emotions and thoughts of nine years ago when Milly first went missing and was then found murdered.
During our questioning my wife and I both felt as if WE WERE ON TRIAL. The questioning of my wife was particularly cruel and inhuman, resulting in her collapse after leaving the stand. We despair of a justice system that is so loaded in favour of the perpetrator of the crime!! It has often appeared almost incidental that this is a trial concerning the murder of our daughter.
We would like to pay tribute to all the witnesses who so courageously gave evidence for the prosecution. This is in stark contrast to the cowardly behaviour of Levi Bellfield who was able to decline to give evidence and chose instead to hide behind his defence QC, to challenge the testimony of EVERY witness – WHERE IS THE FAIRNESS IN A SYSTEM WHICH ALLOWS SUCH BEHAVIOUR. The defence inferences about myself and my wife were hugely distressing. And yet again Bellfield has been spineless and gutless for not attending his sentencing today.
Saturday 25th June would have been Milly’s 23rd birthday, and as always we will remember the happy, fun loving and talented girl that she was, BUT who was never allowed to fulfil her potential. This is a gap in our lives that can NEVER be filled.
STATEMENT FROM SALLY DOWLER
At last the man responsible for the cruel murder or our darling daughter so many years ago has been found guilty.
For us, the trial has been an awful experience.
We have felt that our family, who have already suffered so much, has been on trial as much as Bellfield.
We have had to hear Milly’s name defamed in court.
She has been portrayed as an unhappy, depressed young girl.
Ordinary details that any mother would recognise have been magnified into major problems.
The Milly we knew was a happy, vivacious, fun-loving girl.
Our family life has been scrutinised and laid open for everyone to inspect and comment upon.
We have had to lose our right to privacy and sit through day after harrowing day of the trial in order to get a man convicted of a brutal murder.
To actually see that man in court, a man capable of such a vile and inhuman crime, has been grotesque and distressing for us.
The length the system goes to protect his human rights seems so unfair compared to what we as a family have had to endure.
I hope whilst he is in prison he is treated with the same brutality he dealt out to his victims and that his life is a living hell.
For a mother to bury her child in any circumstances is truly agonising but to bury your child when you know she died in such an appalling way is unutterably awful.
The pain and grief, the damage he has done to our family and friends, will never go away we have just had to learn to live alongside it.
A day does not pass when we do not think of her and the life that she might have had.
We have felt that our family, who have already suffered so much, has been on trial as much as Bellfield.
We have had to hear Milly’s name defamed in court.
She has been portrayed as an unhappy, depressed young girl.
Ordinary details that any mother would recognise have been magnified into major problems.
The Milly we knew was a happy, vivacious, fun-loving girl.
Our family life has been scrutinised and laid open for everyone to inspect and comment upon.
We have had to lose our right to privacy and sit through day after harrowing day of the trial in order to get a man convicted of a brutal murder.
To actually see that man in court, a man capable of such a vile and inhuman crime, has been grotesque and distressing for us.
The length the system goes to protect his human rights seems so unfair compared to what we as a family have had to endure.
I hope whilst he is in prison he is treated with the same brutality he dealt out to his victims and that his life is a living hell.
For a mother to bury her child in any circumstances is truly agonising but to bury your child when you know she died in such an appalling way is unutterably awful.
The pain and grief, the damage he has done to our family and friends, will never go away we have just had to learn to live alongside it.
A day does not pass when we do not think of her and the life that she might have had.
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