Milly Dowler ‘would never have run away’

Gemma Dowler, 25, sat in court and clutched her father Robert’s hand as the statement she made to police after the 13-year-old’s disappearance was read to the jury.

Ms Dowler was 16 when Milly was allegedly snatched by Levi Bellfield, 43, as she walked along Station Avenue, Walton, Surrey, on March 21, 2002.

Gemma Dowler told police how she had tried to phone her sister after returning from a trampoline class after school and found Milly was not at home.

She said: “I knew Milly wouldn’t go out without telling mum or dad. I rang Milly’s mobile. It was switched off so I left a message on her answer phone telling her to come home because Dad was really annoyed.

“I was worried because Milly would always ring to tell us she was going to be late. It was so unusual for her not to be home on time.”

Ms Dowler went out with her mum Sally searching the streets of Walton for Milly, jurors heard.

There is no way she would have run away from home or gone off with someone without telling us. Gemma Dowler

The pair drove up and down the high street and checked McDonald’s for the teenager, before returning home to find Mr Dowler had called the police. They sent text messages and MSN messages to her friends in a bid to find out when they had last seen her.

Ms Dowler said: “I knew immediately something bad had happened to Milly and that she had been abducted.

“There is no way she would have run away from home or gone off with someone without telling us. Mum and Dad really drummed it in to us that we must telephone one of them to let them know we were going to be late.

“She didn’t have a current boyfriend nor had she met someone on an internet chat room.

“I don’t think Milly would ever get in to a stranger’s car or go off with a stranger unless they told her something really convincing. She may have got into a car with someone she knew or trusted.”

The court also heard accounts from Milly’s school friends describing the schoolgirl’s mood and relationship with her family at the time she vanished.

The jury was told earlier this week that Milly had been “distressed” after finding bondage pornography hidden under her father Robert’s bedside chest of drawers.

And excerpts from a “goodbye” note to her parents and a poem in which the teenager wrote “I hate myself” were read out.

As we came into Walton station Milly gave me a hug and said she would see me tomorrow. This was the last time I saw Milly. Jacqueline Pignolly

In a statement read to the court, Milly’s 14-year-old friend Jacqueline Pignolly said: “Milly told me some pornographic magazines had been found in her dad’s drawer.

“At that time Milly was a bit upset about, it, not so much for herself but her mum. I know that Milly did see them and there was more than one of them.”

She added that Milly was “close to her family but has never spoken of any problems”.

On the day she disappeared Milly was “her normal self”, the girl told police. Jacqueline took the train home from school with her, but Milly got off a stop early to buy chips at a cafe in Walton.

Jacqueline said Milly had asked her to come but she stayed on the train, adding that the teenager had joked with her: “Great, who am I going to walk home with now?”

Jacqueline added: “As we came into Walton station Milly gave me a hug and said she would see me tomorrow. This was the last time I saw Milly.”

Another friend, Danielle Sykes, said in a statement: “She was one of the funniest people I had ever met. She would always be trying to make people laugh, joking and smiling.

“She was one of those sort of people that when she was happy she was exceptionally happy, an infectious personality. If she was sad about something she would be particularly sad and get upset. She valued her friendships and family a lot.”

Bellfield, 43, denies abducting and murdering Milly and attempting to kidnap Rachel Cowles, then aged 11, in March 2002.

The prosecution says Bellfield was living yards away and murdered Milly in his flat before dumping the body.

The former wheelclamper and bouncer was convicted in 2008 of murdering Marsha McDonnell, 19, Amelie Delagrange, 22, and attempting to murder Kate Sheedy, 18.