Bellfield given 'whole life' sentence

Bus stop stalker Levi Bellfield has been told he will spend the rest of his life in jail.Bellfield was convicted of murdering students Amelie Delagrange, 22, and Marsha McDonnell, 19, and the attempted murder of schoolgirl Kate Sheedy, then aged 18.The 39-year-old, who is also the prime suspect for the murder of schoolgirl Milly Dowler, is the second killer to be given a "whole life" term in four days. Prostitute killer Steve Wright was given the same sentence on Friday at Ipswich Crown Court.Bellfield refused to face the court to hear his sentence because of the "bad publicity" he had received.His barrister William Boyce QC told trial judge Mrs Justice Rafferty: "Overnight there has been what some consider to be a quite extraordinary explosion of bad publicity."There has been a welter of accusations of other crimes by him. He chooses not to return today."Passing sentence in his absence, Mrs Justice Rafferty said: "You have reduced three families to unimagined grief."What dreadful feelings went through your head as you attacked and in two cases snuffed out a young life is beyond understanding."The statements I have read and the words the court heard were hard for many an experienced professional to bear."Marsha McDonnell was yards from her home in a quiet residential area of Hampton. Aged 19 she was beaten to the head and left to die on the pavement."Kate Sheedy lives due to her own courage and resource. The girl whom you left lying on the road after you had driven and then reversed over her said her goodbyes to her parents as she waited to die."Amelie Delagrange came to the UK expecting to be safe. She was beaten to the head and left to die on Twickenham Green during an August night."Three young women, upon whom you preyed in the dark as they stood or walked near to or from buses."You obliged your counsel to put Kate through indignity after indignity in the witness box. The families of all three have waited months as, during this trial, you took every point from the ludicrous to the bizarre."The jury moved straight and true to your conviction in a case built upon steady painstaking investigation and determination. Twelve sensible individuals saw for what they were the contrived defences you put forward."She jailed Bellfield for life for each attack."You will not be considered for parole and must serve your whole life in prison," the judge said.Bellfield prowled around bus stops and followed buses late at night looking for young blonde women on their own.Impact statements given to the judge spoke of the pain and suffering of Bellfield's victims and their families.Miss McDonnell's uncle, Shane, said: "Marsha's murder was an act of pure evil, an innocent girl attacked from behind with no motive, no reason and no justification."Losing a child in any circumstances is always an extremely hard loss to bear."To lose a child to such a barbaric act of violence that has no reason or explanation just compounds that grief further."Kate Sheedy said her physical and mental suffering continues as she tries to pick up her life again.She said: "To this day I still suffer from nightmares. This is both reliving the incident itself and also the nightmares I had whilst I was in hospital."For a period of several months I suffered really bad panic attacks, flashbacks and nightmares. I couldn't be alone at all, even during the day."Dominique Delagrange spoke of the pain of losing her daughter, Amelie, in a statement read by prosecutor Brian Altman QC.She said: "Our world fell apart on August 19, 2004. It will always hurt us not to know what would have become of Amelie had her life not been severed in such a way."Her loss is an open wound that will never heal. We shall never get over it."Dominique and Jean-Francois Delagrange left court weeping and some of the police officers in the case also wiped away tears.Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton said: "The fact that Bellfield did not come to court shows his cowardliness - the same cowardliness that he has shown throughout."He could not face the families, his victims and the judge and hear himself being sentenced."© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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ITN | February 26, 2008

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