Levi Bellfield jury discharged over media coverage

Jury that convicted serial killer of murder of Milly Dowler had been due to give verdict on attempted abduction charge

An Old Bailey jury has been discharged without reaching a verdict on an allegation that serial killer Levi Bellfield attempted to abduct 11-year-old Rachel Cowles the day before he snatched Milly Dowler in 2002 because of media coverage of the trial.

The judge, Mr Justice Wilkie, said that publicity of the case had left him no option but to discharge the jury and refer the matter to the attorney general.

There was a huge amount of publicity that should not have been put before the jury, the judge said.

On Thursday the jury convicted Bellfield of Milly's murder after snatching her as she walked home from school near his home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. They were due to continue deliberating on Friday morning on the charge of attempting to abduct Rachel Cowles.

Prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the judge a decision had yet to be taken on whether to seek a retrial on the attempted abduction charge.

Bellfield, a former wheelclamper and bouncer, has been jailed for life with a whole life tarrif for Milly's abduction and murder.

Bellfield, who was not in court, was already in prison for murdering 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, 22, and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, 18, in 2004.

Bellfield, 43, was given three life sentences for those crimes in February 2008 and was told he would never be released.


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