Steve explained that Halliwell told him to drive them to a local beauty spot, a chalk white horse at Uffington - which turned out to be where he had dumped Sian O'Callaghan's body. "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.". In the mid 1980s, while serving time in prison, Halliwell reportedly asked another inmate how many women it's necessary to kill before you're considered a serial murderer. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order, meaning he will not be eligible for parole and is unlikely to ever be released from prison. Look no further! Halliwell is thought to have killed Becky in 2003, while Sian was killed in 2011. Common sense did not win the day. Fulcher had not cautioned Halliwell as he should have under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE). 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Steve is no longer working for Wiltshire police, having left the force back in 2014, but his decision to hand in his notice wasn't one he made lightly. Steve Fulcher (played by Martin Freeman) violated PACE Code C by interviewing Christopher Halliwell (Joe Absolom) without the presence of a solicitor. Fearful that Halliwell might take his own life, he felt he had no choice but to arrest him on suspicion of kidnap the first of a number of difficult dilemmas he would face. Beckys mother, Karen Edwards, began a petition calling for a change to arrest guidelines. "Generally, we echo Fulcher's belief that there are other victims," Pope said, explaining the drama's approach to the question. "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. 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. You dont sleep, you dont eat, its a 24/7 commitment, says Fulcher. But the story is no work of fiction. The case attracted widespread attention and press coverage, and on Tuesday 22nd March around 400 members of the public were allowed to help the police search the forest. If I had followed procedure, then Sian and Beckys bodies may never have been found yet it seems thats what senior authorities wouldve preferred. The Sherlock actor said he 'couldn't believe' Fulcher's story when he heard it. In January 2012, at a preliminary hearing, Mrs Justice Cox ruled the confession obtained by Fulcher was inadmissible at trial. She was a drug addict and sex worker, and after she disappeared her mother Karen Edwards (played by Imelda Staunton) had spent years hoping she would return. What is right and what is wrong? But who was driving the vehicle? Lara Keay For Mailonline, 'These dinosaurs are meant to be EXTINCT! CCTV taken near the Suju nightclub in Swindon showed her getting into a Toyota taxi owned by Christopher Halliwell, a 47-year-old father of two teenage daughters. Despite these hopes, Fulcher was wrong. It has emerged Halliwell was obsessed with Linda after doing building work at the Razzells home four years before she died. Steve Fulcher, played by Martin Freeman, lost his career after catching a serial killer Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher resigned from Wiltshire Police in May 2014 ( Image: PA) As. In January 2003Becky Godden, then aged 20, is last seen alive after getting into a taxi outside Destiny & Desire nightclub in Swindon. 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. I heard nothing for 10 months, he recalls. For other inquiries, Contact Us. Freeman, 47, plays Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher in the ITV show A Confession. Her husband Glyn has spent 13 years in jail for her murder but maintains his innocence, with his lawyer saying he would be 'very surprised' if he had committed the crime. How far should the police go in securing a confession and bringing a killer to justice? The delay in Halliwells trial with all the resulting trauma was entirely down to an obsession with procedure, rather than the pursuit of justice. Do you want another one?. This, despite the fact he had caught Halliwell, a murderer and possible serial killer. But whats the true story behind Steve Fulcher? Halliwells father lived a few streets from the home of chef Claudia Lawrence, who has been missing since March 19, 2009. He learned the CPS were considering bringing charges against him for malfeasance in public office. It isnt and it hasnt been. The programme explores whether Steve's actions were brilliant detective work, or arrogance and recklessness which ultimately cost him his job. Speaking on To Catch A Serial Killer - With Trevor McDonald, Elaine said: Steve did what I think any family member would want an officer to do for them.. Effectively unemployable by British police, he now works as a consultant on policing in Somalia, taking him away from home for long periods. The team found Sian's remains there. Fulcher played by Sherlocks Martin Freeman ended up in a difficult ethical position that led him to find the killer, but in an unorthadox manner that ultimately ended his career in the police force. But the following day, there were "significant lines of inquiry" and the public were asked to stand down from the search. Steve says Halliwell then asked him, "Do you want another one?"'. Most arent concerned with policing on the ground, but are pen-pushers worried only by self advancement., He emphasises hes not advocating bending the rules. But forensic evidence that has been used to convict [Halliwell] was available back in 2011. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. And he decided this would be treated as a missing person inquiry, rather than a murder. It was horribly tense. But he also made another confession offering to lead Fulcher to a second body. Indeed, Fulchers commitment to the victims of crime shines through during our interview. The next important clue came from a text message sent by Kevin at 3.24am, which was received on Sian's phone; analysis showed that her mobile phone had been in the Savernake Forest area at the time the message arrived. According to the PACE rules, he should have cautioned the killer and given him access to a solicitor after discovering that Sian was dead. Jeff Pope, Executive Producer and Writer - explains PACE. 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Detective Sergeant Steve Fulcher resigned from the police force in 2014 after he was found guilty of misconduct for not reading Halliwell his rights when he first confessed to killing. Steve explains what happened next: 'He said, "You and I should have a chat". TWISTED Christopher Halliwell could be one of Britains worst serial killers, says the detective who put him behind bars. ", And speaking after Halliwell's sentencing in 2016, Memory said: Im very very clear that there must be other victims out there whether they are sexual offences or other women that he has taken. A young woman called Becky Godden-Edwards had gone missing a number of years before, last seen in 2002 or 2003. Catching a Serial Killer: My hunt for murderer Christopher Halliwell, spoken many times in the press about his experience of the case, he was working for a private company in Mogadishu, Somalia, the police found "up to 60" items of women's clothing. While they could go ahead with Sians murder charge, thanks to Halliwells DNA being on her body, the refusal of Fulchers senior officers to further investigate Beckys death, and thus garner more evidence, led the CPS to withdraw that charge. "I for one stand by Fulcher's steadfast resolve to try and find my sister Sian," Liam O'Callaghan said. Instead, everyone turned on me.. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The following January Det Supt Fulcher was found guilty of gross misconduct and given a final disciplinary warning. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 25 years. He said: If Im right, he had a propensity for killing on average once a year. His loyal family had also suffered. Halliwell is serving life for killing Sian OCallaghan, 22, and Becky Godden, 20. On the day of his arrest, Halliwell spoke to Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, and admitted to murdering two women and dumping their bodies in shallow graves. ', Afterwards Fulcher said of Halliwell: 'We had a surreal exchange, he knew that he had given his life away. It's just not going to happen. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. In March 2011, Sian OCallaghan vanished on a night out in Swindon. Joe Absolom, which has been gripping audiences for the past six weeks. Four months later, he resigned from the Wiltshire Police force. In fact she was found in a very shallow grave. A judge then ruled that Halliwell's confessions to killing both victims were actually inadmissible as evidence in court. Det Supt Fulcher had risen through the ranks at Sussex Police before moving to Wiltshire. 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. 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. It took four more years of campaigning for it to be allowed, and last September Halliwell was convicted of killing Becky and burying her body in a field at Eastleach, Gloucs. In his book, Steve says: At the bottom of a pond that was 8ft deep they found Sian OCallaghans distinctive boot. With his name so closely associated with the story he has found it hard to branch out, though in 2017 he was working for a private company in Mogadishu, Somalia. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. 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. This almost derailed the court case against Halliwell and called into question one of the most important principles of the criminal justice system. But I had my maths wrong. He maintains that he would not have persuaded Halliwell to confess had he not taken this gamble. So while Halliwell was charged and convicted of the murder of Sian O'Callaghan (the case was strong enough without that confession), at this point he could not be tried for the murder of Becky Godden-Edwards. He tells Tim Lewis why he'd do it again Tim. It has been devastating for everyone, he says quietly. Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, 52, from Wiltshire, was one of the most respected officers in the UK when he caught taxi driver Christopher Halliwell in 2011, who went on to confess to the murder ofSian O'Callaghan, 22. As a result of being found guilty of gross misconduct in January 2014, Steve Fulcher was given a final written warning, which could have led to his dismissal if he'd fallen foul of any more. It's a very dodgy road to go down, I think, for us as a society.'. Simone Lee was held captive in her home in Limerick by her former friend Christopher Stokes, who mercilessly beat her, placed bin liner over her head, and also poured boiling water over her before setting the apartment on fire on May 11, 2021. '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.'. January 30, 2012 - Mrs Justice Cox rules the evidence of Halliwell's confessions to the murders of both women is inadmissible. "You have to look at the wider picture and say, Alright, do we need to have a way of ensuring that police powers are not abused, that people arent bullied into making confessions?,'" said Gardiner. 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. He added: It wasn't ignorance on his part, it was a conscious decision by him to drive a coach and horses through recognised police procedure.. They also seized his green Toyota Avensis. But to get those confessions, Fulcher was accused of breaching the guidelines of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) by failing to caution Halliwell and denying him access to a solicitor at the time the confessions were obtained. After Halliwell's arrest, Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher made an unusual decision with huge ramifications. Officers observed Halliwell. Halliwell finally guided DS Fulcher and his team to a remote gully near the White Horse landmark at Uffington where he had dumped Sians body. There was no sign of a baby when they came by". 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