Milly Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield allowed to marry his girlfriend in prison
Serial killer Levi Bellfield is allowed to marry his love-struck girlfriend in prison – after receiving a whopping £30,000 in legal aid to fund his case.
The 55-year-old killer, who is serving life in Durham’s Frankland Prison, threatened a human rights case if he was not allowed to marry and cried out for discrimination when he was not allowed to wear an engagement ring.
News of his intended marriage to the woman, who is in her 40s, sparked outrage when they were revealed last year, and then Justice Minister Dominic Raab pledged action to prevent it.
Bellfield is currently serving two life sentences for the murders of Milly Dowler in 2002, Marsha McDonnell in 2003 and Amelie Delagrange in 2004, as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy the same year.
Police officers and MPs called the case “grotesque” and an “insult to the victims and their families” and demanded that legislation to prevent the marriage be speeded up.
The 55-year-old killer, serving life in Durham’s Frankland Prison, threatened a human rights case if he was not allowed to marry
He was reportedly introduced to his blonde fiancé by fellow inmate Peter Sutcliffe before he died
Lawyers for the convicted killer argued that the European Convention on Human Rights and the Marriage Act of 1983 gave Bellfield the right to marry.
The monster killer demanded video calls with his bride-to-be, a blonde woman in her 40s, and the opportunity to have her picture taken.
A government source said The sun that there was no way to stop the killer from getting married as the law currently stands and that officials decided when to tell Bellfield about the decision to approve his marriage.
Ministers have vowed to ban the practice of prisoners marrying as some 60 prisoners, many of them serving long prison terms, applied to marry last year.
Former Attorney General Dominic Raab introduced a victims’ bill in March, banning people with life sentences from marrying while in prison.
Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke said: ‘This is a disgusting insult to the victims and their families.
“This is a man who has taken away young girls and women’s human rights, including the right to live and to marry.”
He demanded that the Minister of Justice approve the new legislation to end the marriage quickly.
David Spencer, director of research at the Center for Crime Prevention, said it was “horrific” that Bellfield was allowed to marry and that the taxpayer funding the case was “even more grotesque.”
“Criminals of his ilk have forfeited their rights and if the law currently allows him to be married then that should change.
“His time behind bars should be spent thinking about his heinous crimes, not enjoying the comforts of home.”
Attorney General Alex Chalk was reportedly given legal advice that he could not block the prisoner’s marriage, with a source telling The Sun that his “hands appear to be tied”.
“The only card the prison and the Justice Department can play is if they say it’s unsafe for the woman, who could be subject to manipulation and coercive control,” the source explains.
Bellfield’s new fiancé previously told The Mirror: ‘He’s not a monster. Yes, he has a bad past, but 17 years in prison changes a person.
“He has changed, he has remorse, and there are always reasons why someone is wrong in life.
“There is always a much bigger picture. He is 53 years old, still young and has to live in the knowledge that he will just grow old and die in that horrible place.’
Sources close to Bellfield say he’s more interested in the ‘drama’ than actually getting married (pictured: his fiancee)
Bellfield is known to have killed three people, including 13-year-old Milly Dowler (pictured)
He also killed 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell (left) and 22-year-old Amelie Delagrange (right)
Sources close to Bellfield say he is more interested in the “drama” than actually getting married.
Bellfield was introduced to his fiancé through Peter Sutcliffe, who was friends with the woman before he passed away in 2020.
Bellfield and Sutcliffe were on the same wing in HMP Frankland. Bellfield requested contact with her after seeing her photo in Sutcliffe’s cell, according to reports.
They spoke on the phone before she went to visit Bellfield at County Durham Prison.
“What people don’t realize is that the woman was friends with Sutcliffe for years before he died, although there was no romance between them,” a source told The Sun.
They said that Bellfield had asked Sutcliffe for permission to write to her about a year before he died.
His fiancé has now said she is “not ashamed” of their relationship, and believes Bellfield has “changed” and is “not a monster.”
She described herself to the Mirror as “extremely non-judgmental”, adding that she and her fiancé have had “kisses and hugs” at County Durham Jail.
Bellfield is currently behind bars at HMP Frankfield (pictured) and will likely never be released
Bellfield was put in touch with his now-fiancée by Peter Sutcliffe (pictured), after seeing a photo of her in the Yorkshire Ripper’s cell
Other prisoners who have married include Charles Bronson, Britain’s ‘most violent offender’, and Julian Assange, of WikiLeaks fame.
Bellfield was questioned by police last month about the unsolved 1999 murder of 19-year-old college student Elizabeth Chau after she confessed to the murder.
He is also under investigation by the Criminal Cases Review over the 1996 murders of Dr Lin Russell and daughter Megan, six, who he also said was him.
A Justice Department spokesman said: “The application is being processed in the usual manner.
“In the future, our new Victims and Prisoners Act will prevent prisoners serving life sentences from marrying or entering into civil partnerships in prison.”