The video will start in 8 Cancel

News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The mum of missing chef Claudia Lawrence hit out tonight at the “peanuts” budget to probe suspect Christopher Halliwell.

Police have only £40,000 to investigate the double killer’s possible links to the murder of a number of ­women, including that of Claudia, 35.

Karen Edwards, 59, whose daughter Becky was one of two women ­slaughtered by cab driver Halliwell, said: “It’s an insult to the memory of those who are still waiting for loved ones to come home.”

And Joan Lawrence, 76, whose ­missing daughter Claudia is one of the potential victims, said: “There are so many other people and crimes that Halliwell has been linked to.

“It’s impossible for the force to carry out a proper review with such a small amount of money.”

Halliwell, 55, is serving life for killing sex worker Becky, 20, and Sian O’Callaghan, 22, who was going home from a nightclub in Swindon, Wilts, when he abducted and murdered her.

(Image: PA)

The ex-CID chief who caught him – played by Martin Freeman in this month’s hit ITV drama A Confession – fears Halliwell could be one of Britain’s worst serial killers.

He has been linked to at least 12 other murdered or missing women.

His stomach-churning secret trophy store of 60 items of women’s clothing indicated he may have raped and­ murdered many more.

But Wiltshire Police have allocated only £40,000 to a cold-case review codenamed Operation Major.

The existence of the taskforce and the funding, led by Det Supt Jeremy Carter, was ­uncovered by the Sunday People using the Freedom of Information Act.

But the force refuse to say if they have made any ­arrests or taken a single statement since launching the review in 2016.

The £40,000 has been branded “peanuts” by a retired detective who led a review into ­murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s case.

(Image: Andy Commins/Daily Mirror)

And mums Karen and Joan, who have forged a strong bond, are united in their condemnation of the small amount.

Karen said: “You will never, ever, ever get closure but if the police response was adequate then at least some loved ones could put them to rest.

“To put £40,000 into the investigation is despicable.

“Halliwell will ­never confess ­anything. He wants to have an element of mystery and will never disclose anything.”

“But there will be loads of evidence and I am adamant that Halliwell is a serial killer, one of the worst in history.

“It just makes me sick. They should be doing more to help the loved ones of his victims so they can give them the burial they should have.” And Joan said: “How could they possibly put in such a small amount?

“If there are so many other victims how far can this go?

(Image: PA)

“It’s an insignificant figure. Victims’ families want peace and they’ll never get it with this level of investment.

“There’s law in this country but ­unfortunately not a lot of justice.”

Ex-Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who put Halliwell behind bars, said Claudia’s disappearance “fits Halliwell’s pattern of behaviour” of abducting women walking alone late at night or early in the morning.

Only two of Halliwell’s ­“trophy” items have ever been ­identified.

One was a cardigan worn by Becky, who disappeared in Swindon in 2003 and a high-heeled boot that Sian was wearing before she was abducted in 2011.

Halliwell is feared to have killed up to 12 more women including Claudia, mum-of-four Linda Razzell who the killer was said to be obsessed with after doing building work at her home, and ­university ­graduate Melanie Hall, who disappeared in 1996 after leaving a nightclub in Bath.

Halliwell could be linked to further unsolved murders including those of Julie Finley, Carol Clark, Jackie Waines and Yvonne Fitt.

Becky’s mum Karen has carried out her own investigations, and in 2017 discovered a possible link between Halliwell and Claudia Lawrence.

(Image: PA)

Her enquiries uncovered a witness who claimed Halliwell had been seen talking to Claudia through a taxi ­window before she vanished in York in March 2009.

Halliwell’s dad lived in Huddersfield, an hour from Claudia’s home, giving him a link to the Yorkshire area.

Karen said at the time: “The description of Claudia’s [alleged] murderer is identical to [Christopher Halliwell] – a left-handed smoker, 5ft 8-10ins, with slightly receding hair and a skinny build.

"Claudia was asking if he had change so she could ring her dad from a call box.” Officers at Wiltshire Police initially refused to say how much they were spending on the cold case review.

They claimed the information would “further perpetuate the distress of the family, friends and those who knew Becky and Sian”.

But after the Sunday People ­appealed against the decision, cops admitted the dedicated fund was no more than £40,000.

Retired police chief Kevin Moore, who led a review into the hunt for 13-year-old Milly Dowler’s killer Levi Bellfield, 50, said: “In policing terms this figure is ­peanuts.”

Mr Moore revealed he once spent £700,000 on a forensic dig linked to Scottish serial killer Peter Tobin.

(Image: PA)

The ex-Chief Superintendent of Sussex Police said: “£40,000 will not go very far at all.

"What it says to me is that this is simply an ­appeasement exercise ­because the force are under pressure and Halliwell’s crimes won’t go away.

“They need to be seen to be doing something.

“But if you consider the costs of forensics, especially on the 60 items of clothing they discovered, this is a drop in the ocean.”

Halliwell murdered Sian O’Callaghan just two minutes after she got into his cab in Swindon on March 19, 2011. She had been brutally beaten and stabbed.

Having guided cops to the remote spot where he had dumped her body, Halliwell suddenly ­confessed: “I’m a sick f***er. I need help. Do you want ­another one?”

The fiend then revealed where cops could find Becky’s body – who police did not even know was missing.

Catching a double killer led to Det Supt Fulcher being hailed a hero by the families and twice ­nominated for the Queen’s Police Medal.

But his decision to break police guidelines and drive Halliwell to where he thought Sian might be found alive, instead of taking him to the police ­station for a formal interview, cost him his job.

Halliwell was convicted in 2016 of murdering Becky and given a whole life sentence.

Det Supt Jeremy Carter, of Wiltshire Police, said: “The figure of £40,000 does not cover any of the salaries of those working on this case but relates purely to specialist work such as forensic digs and searches, and specific expert advice.

“Officers working on this case carry out a vast amount of work as part of their daily duties which would not be ­captured in this figure.

“The force continue to maintain dedicated staff who work on this job.”

POTENTIAL VICTIMS OF CHRISTOPHER HALLIWELL

CLAUDIA LAWRENCE

(Image: PA)

Chef Claudia Lawrence, 35, disappeared between the night of March 18 and morning of March 19 2009 in York.

A witness later said he saw Christopher Halliwell talking to Claudia through a taxi window. Halliwell’s absent father once lived “a few streets” from where she was last seen and it is possible he knew the historic city.

SALLY ANN JOHN

(Image: PA)

Sex worker Sally Ann John, 24, vanished in September 1995 near Christopher Halliwell’s Swindon home.

Despite continuous appeals, she has never been found.

She allegedly sent a postcard shortly after she disappeared - but police later ruled this as a fake.

SANDRA BREWIN

Sandra Brewin disappeared from her parents’ home in 1994 aged 21 just months after she became pen-friends with a man in prison in Oxfordshire.

LINDA RAZZELL

(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

MUM-of-four Linda Razzell, 41, disappeared from Swindon in 2002. Her husband Glyn was convicted of her killing but continues to protest his innocence.

Halliwell was said to be obsessed with Linda four years before her murder after doing building work on their home in Swindon.

VERA HOLLAND

(Image: INS News)

Vera Holland’s partially clothed body was found on a tip in Berkshire in November 1996.

The 47-year-old had been strangled, dumped among rubbish and her body set on fire.

Cold case cops later confirmed they were working to see if Christopher Halliwell could be responsible.

TINA PRYER

(Image: SWNS)

University of Bath cleaner Tina Pryer, 39, has not been seen since she vanished on April 15, 2001, when she got into a taxi near her home town of Trowbridge, Wilts.

THI HAI NGUYEN

Vietnamese immigrant Thi Hai Nguyen, 20, has not been seen since she went missing from her temporary home in June 2005.

She had only been in the town for a matter of weeks and her disappearance was not widely publicised or appealed for as it was thought at the time that she may have simply moved on to a different city or travelled back home.

JULIE FINLEY

(Image: PA)

Julie Finley, 23, vanished from the centre of Liverpool on August 4, 1994, and was found strangled a day later in Rainford, Lancs.

Halliwell is said to have lived just four miles from the field where Julie’s naked body was dumped.

CAROL CLARK

Carol Clark, 32, was snatched from the Bristol red light district in March 1993 and dumped in a canal at ­Sharpness, Glos.

Pathologists believed she had either suffered a heavy blow to the neck or been strangled.

Halliwell lived 40 miles away at the time and was a narrowboat enthusiast with a good knowledge of the canals.

JACKIE WAINES

(Image: copyright unknown)

Jackie Waines was a 35-year-old mum-of-three who was abducted from Bristol’s red light district and murdered in 1985.

Her body was dumped on a bridlepath at Frampton Cotterell, Glos.

She was stabbed repeatedly. Halliwell was at the time living 40 miles away in Highworth, north of Swindon, Wilts.

YVONNE FITT

A mother who had worked as a prostitute in Leeds, Yvonne last seen on January 16, 1992, in Bradford – 15 miles away from Halliwell’s dad’s home in Huddersfield.

Her murdered body was discovered in a shallow grave outside Otley, West Yorkshire.

MELANIE HALL

(Image: PA)

University graduate Melanie Hall, 25, disappeared in 1996 after leaving a nightclub in Bath, Somerset.

Her remains were found off an M5 slipway 13 years later.