February 18, 2015 - Halliwell is arrested on suspicion of murdering Miss Godden. All I could do was try to keep him talking.. Steve says Halliwell then asked him, "Do you want another one?"'. Instead, seeing a window of opportunity, hed driven him to the field where Halliwell claimed another body would be found. January 2003 - Becky Godden, then aged 20, is last seen alive after getting into a taxi outside Destiny & Desire nightclub in Swindon. 11:00 GMT 03 Sep 2019. It is a scandal.. He wanted to use what he believed were emergency powers, to be used only when there is an imminent threat to life. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. A young woman called Becky Godden-Edwards had gone missing a number of years before, last seen in 2002 or 2003. There was no sign of a baby when they came by". Its taken all this time for Beckys case to come to court, he says. A decorated police detective whose career was left in tatters after he decided to pursue a confession from a suspected killer without following strict policing guidelines, has said he has no regrets. He was investigated by the police watchdog, the IPCC and found guilty of Gross Misconduct. Oscar-nominated scriptwriter Jeff Pope based the drama on Det Supt Fulchers memoirs and independent research. The last sighting of her was in the Manchester Road area, in the towns red-light district, at 10.45pm on September 8, 1995. On March 19 2011, 22-year-old Sian O'Callaghan disappeared from Wiltshire after last being spotted at a nightclub in the area. So on a lonely windswept hill in Wiltshire he tore. Under the PACE code of practice (relating to The Police And Criminal Evidence Act of 1984), DS Fulcher should have taken Halliwell straight back to the police station as soon as he confessed to Beckys murder. A re-investigation began and evidence re-analysed. Pope said: Watching the series with him afterwards, it was almost unbearable. The judge ruled: "I am satisfied that the evidence of the conviction of the defendant of the murder of Sian O'Callaghan is admissible to prove the defendant's propensity to commit murder. If the evidence in the trophy store suggests a truth that still lies hidden, then Halliwell had a prolific propensity to murder perhaps as often as once or twice a year so lives were saved after his arrest.. Common sense did not win the day. But not before Halliwell, defending himself in court, gloated about how he had ruined Steves career. 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During the investigation, Detective Steve Fulcher broke police protocol and extracted not one, but two confessions from the killer. Steve is convinced Halliwell murdered others after he revealed he had buried Becky Godden in a 5ft hole. In his book, Steve says: At the bottom of a pond that was 8ft deep they found Sian OCallaghans distinctive boot. DS Steve Fulcher, played by Martin Freeman in A Confession, resigned from the police after being found guilty of gross misconduct in the Christopher Halliwell case, Get daily headlines and breaking news alerts for FREE by signing up to our newsletter. Only two of the items have ever been identified a cardigan worn by Becky, who disappeared in Swindon in 2003. June 9, 2015 - Halliwell appears at Bristol Crown Court and denies Miss Godden's murder. Steve, who went on to get a job as a consultant for a private company in Somalia which offers aid from the Foreign Office, admitted he was shunned when trying to find work in the UK.. Wiltshire Police told the BBC : "The IPCC investigation concluded that a misconduct hearing should take place to consider potential gross misconduct. Linda Razzell, 41, disappeared in Swindon on March 19, 2002. Im terrified for that poor baby. Instead, everyone turned on me.. "I deliberately and very carefully didn't get into specifics of other victims," writer Jeff Pope said. 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. "Generally, we echo Fulcher's belief that there are other victims," Pope said, explaining the drama's approach to the question. A High Court judge ruled that this breach of police guidelines made Halliwells confessions of killing both women inadmissible, which nearly derailed the cases. 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. BBC reporter Steve Brodie said of the detective's actions: 'At that stage there's absolutely no doubt under PACE [the Police and Criminal Evidence Act], Christopher Halliwell should have been charged on suspicion of murder, taken back to a police station and given access to a solicitor.'. 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. I wondered, did they belong to the six other victims I suspected Halliwell of killing? After a nail-biting drive, Halliwell guided the police to an isolated lane running alongside the White Horse near Uffington, close to the Berkshire border, where he said Sians body was lying in the open. Away from the press, Fulcher and his team had also identified the taxi driver 47-year-old father-of-three Christopher Halliwell (played by Joe Absolom) and were keeping him under surveillance, hoping he would lead them to Sian. As the criminal proceedings were thrown into jeopardy, Det Supt Fulcher faced gross misconduct hearings. But there is only no evidence because they havent spoken to the witness.. Fulcher has lost his career, he works as a security consultant in Africa. 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.. ', He considered his actions: 'Should I stop him confessing? With equity release you could access a lump-sum of tax-free cash which can be used to enhance your retirement income, make home improvements, or even enjoy a memorable holiday. Fulchers once distinguished career, meanwhile, lies in ruins. You are talking about co-ordinating hundreds of officers. I met Sians parents and promised them I wouldnt rest until I found her, he recalls. A police telephone trace threw up a clue - he had texted her half an hour after she left the nightclub saying, 'Worried'. 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. DS Steve Fulcher, played by Martin Freeman in A Confession, resigned from the police after being found guilty of gross misconduct in the Christopher Halliwell case Halliwell had confessed to her murder of Sian, and revealed he had also killed prostitute Becky Godden in 2003 and left her body at another location. Fulcher is more than qualified to reflect on how British policing has changed. Youre seriously telling me theres nothing in between or either side? The judge said I acted in good faith, he says. The worst part, Fulcher says, is none of its surprising. When you have a body in a ditch you have a reactive investigation as the harm has been done. I did these things because they were the right things to do in these circumstances. His loyal family had also suffered. It is a colossal effort. 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. May 31, 2012 - Halliwell appears at Preston Crown Court and denies murdering Miss O'Callaghan. In it, he argues that his actions were to preserve the life of a hostage, as he was working on the assumption OCallaghan could still be alive and that Halliwell could lead him to her. And he decided this would be treated as a missing person inquiry, rather than a murder. And then, out of the blue, the taxi driver said: "Do you want another one?". Freeman plays Det Supt Steve Fulcher in ITV's six-part drama By Emma Saunders Entertainment reporter It was a tragic real-life story that gripped the public due to flawed heroics, a long search. It need never have been so. 'He showed me a list of girls' names that he kept in his phone of those that trusted him as a taxi driver. But Beckys family was having to wait for justice. It was a terrible Catch 22. Halliwell might have been far more prolific than even I had feared.. Deborah Peach from the inquiry team recalls in the programme: 'Steve takes the decision that he will conduct an urgent interview of Halliwell himself and just says "Right, let's go".'. What are the real-life events behind ITV's true crime drama A Confession? In January 2003Becky Godden, then aged 20, is last seen alive after getting into a taxi outside Destiny & Desire nightclub in Swindon. At Wiltshire he had solved several murders while simultaneously gaining a Masters Degree in Criminology from the University of Cambridge. Five days after her disappearance and desperate to find Sian alive, police had closed in on suspect Halliwell. He lost his police pension worth 500,000, had to sell his house and now works training police in war-torn Somalia. There's a distinct possibility there could be further offences.'. 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. STEVE Fulcher was a detective who uncovered the crimes of a twisted double murderer before resigning from the force. Steve Fulcher placed Halliwell under surveillance and he was seen cleaning his car, disposing of materials in litter bins, and burning objects at night. Its a simple moral issue, he told the Guardian. 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