Milly Dowler: Bellfield’s ex-partner gives evidence

Levi Bellfield’s former partner Emma Mills told the court that he had disappeared on the day that Milly Dowler went missing and that throughout the day she had found it impossible to get hold of him.

The couple and their children were house-sitting a friend’s home in West London at the time. Bellfield returned to see his family between 10 and 11pm. He was dressed in a new set of clothes that Miss Mills said must have come from the family flat in Walton-on-Thames. In the middle of the night she woke up to find Bellfield getting changed. He told her he was going to return to the flat for a lie-in and took the family dog with him.

The following morning, according to Mills, Bellfield called her to say he no longer wanted to live at the flat in Walton-on-Thames and wanted to return to where they used to live in West Drayton, whic was still being refurbished:

“He said that he didn’t want to be in the flat any more. We didn’t have to wait for the lease to end.

“I said, ‘we can’t live in there’ [Walton-on-Thames]. He said, ‘oh, you don’t want to come back’, twisting it on me, pushing me into thinking it’s a good idea, trying to get me to go back.”

On returning to the Walton flat Miss Mills noticed there were no sheets, duvet cover or pillow cases on the bed. Emma Mills then called Bellfield: “I rang him. He said the dog had had an accident on the bed. I didn’t believe him for a second. I said, ‘why would she do that, when did it happen?’.

“He said he put the sheets in the rubbish because they could not be washed.”

Mills searched the bins and found nothing but started packing to leave the flat as Bellfield had pleaded. They were moved out two days after Milly disappeared just moments from their home. She believed her partner may have been having an affair and continued to question him.

A few days later when she pushed him again he replied: “Why do you keep going on, do you think I’ve done Milly?”

Levi Bellfield denies murdering Milly Dowler and attempted kidnap of another schoolgirl. The trial continues.