"A Truly Awful Experience": Sally Dowler's Statement After the Bellfield Verdict, 2011

Outside the Old Bailey in June 2011, Milly Dowler's mother, Sally, read her family's statement on the verdict: relief, and anger that the family had felt "on trial as much as Mr. Bellfield." Bellfield is not heard.

Subject

Levi Bellfield

Recorded

about June 23, 2011

Runtime

2:12

Content warning: Concerns the abduction and murder of a 13-year-old girl. No graphic detail.

The Interview

This is not an interview, and Levi Bellfield is not heard. It is a 2-minute-12-second Channel 4 News recording of the statement read by Sally Dowler, the mother of Milly Dowler, outside the Old Bailey in London after the jury found Bellfield guilty of her daughter's abduction and murder. Channel 4 News posted it on June 24, 2011, the day he was sentenced. Sally Dowler is the only speaker.

Historical Context

Amanda "Milly" Dowler, 13, disappeared on her way home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on March 21, 2002. Her remains were found in Yateley Heath Woods, Hampshire, in September 2002. Levi Bellfield had been convicted in 2008 of the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange and an attempted murder, and was serving a whole life order when he was charged with Milly's murder.

Circumstances

Bellfield's trial for the abduction and murder of Milly Dowler was held at the Old Bailey before Mr. Justice Wilkie. He was found guilty on June 23, 2011, and on June 24 received a second whole life order. During the trial, Milly's parents, Bob and Sally Dowler, gave evidence and were cross-examined about the family's private life.

What the Recording Covers

Sally Dowler thanks the jury and says the family is relieved, but calls the trial "a truly awful experience." She says the family felt "on trial as much as Mr. Bellfield," that Milly had been portrayed in court as "an unhappy, depressed young girl" when "the Milly we knew was a happy, vivacious, fun-loving girl," and that the family had lost its right to privacy. She says the system's protection of his rights seemed "so unfair" compared with what the family had endured, and that she hopes his life in prison "is a living hell." She closes: "A day does not pass when we do not think of her and the life that she might have led."

What Makes the Recording Significant

It is Sally Dowler's own statement on the verdict, read for the family. The family's complaint that they had been put on trial (Bob Dowler made the same point in his own statement) became part of the case's history and of public debate about how victims' families are treated in court.

Important Caveats

Levi Bellfield is not heard. The statement was probably read on verdict day, June 23, 2011, rather than at sentencing, as the video description implies; the date is inferred from the opening words. Sally Dowler's wish that Bellfield be treated "with the same brutality he dealt out to his victims" is her own statement and should be presented as such. The later phone-hacking revelations concerning Milly Dowler's voicemail (July 2011) are not mentioned in the recording.

Sally Dowler: We are relieved to have this verdict returned and would like to thank the jury for their decision. At last, the man responsible for the cruel murder of our darling daughter so many years ago has been found guilty. However, 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. Ordinary details any mother would recognize have been magnified into major problems. The Milly we knew was a happy, vivacious, fun-loving girl.

Sally Dowler: Our family life has been scrutinized 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 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. The length the system goes to protect his human rights seems so unfair compared to what we as a family have had to endure.

Sally Dowler: 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 agonizing. But to bury your child when you know she died in such an appallingly awful way is terrible. 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 led. [The clip ends at 02:12.] ---