Milly Dowler’s father ‘became suspect after porn find’

Milly Dowler‘s father broke down as he told an Old Bailey jury how he became the original suspect in his daughter’s disappearance – after police found “extreme” bondage pornography at the family home.

Bob Dowler, 59, told police he feared the 13-year-old had run away from home after she found a fetish-themed porn magazine in his bedroom.

Giving evidence at the Old Bailey, Mr Dowler said police investigating Milly’s disappearance had told him: “You are a suspect whether you like it or not.”

He denied having any involvement in Milly’s disappearance and said he had feared the discovery of the sexually explicit material might distract police from the search for the real culprit.

Mr Dowler was giving evidence in the trial of Levi Bellfield, who is accused of abducting Milly from near Walton-on-Thames station in Surrey, murdering her in his nearby flat before dumping her body in woodland 25 miles away.

In 2008, the 42-year-old former wheelclamper and bouncer was convicted of the murders of 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, 22, and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, 18.

I was very concerned because I knew if they focused on me, they need to be focused on someone else. Bob Dowler

After Milly went missing in March 2002 Mr Dowler admitted to police that his daughter had become upset after finding the pornographic magazine underneath a chest of drawers in her parent’s bedroom, the court heard.

Mr Dowler was also forced to admit there was further extreme material, videos and magazines, in a bureau in the hallway and in the lounge. There was also “equipment” kept in a box in the loft, the court heard.

The jury heard how police had asked him: “Are you in anyway responsible for Milly’s disappearance?”

In a response that was read to the court Mr Dowler had replied: “The only way I can be responsible is if she had seen some of this material and decided to run away. But I have no other involvement with Milly’s disappearance whatsoever. I recognise that leaving material round the property, would have caused her distress and may have caused her to run away.”

Milly’s father broke down in tears in the witness box after being read the contents of notes written by the teenager in which she said she was unhappy.

Jeffrey Samuels QC, defending Bellfield, asked the IT consultant: “After the aftermath of her disappearance and in the early part of the police inquiry, is is right that you became for a time the focus of police inquiries?”

Mr Dowler replied: “That is correct”, adding: “I was very concerned because I knew if they focused on me, they need to be focused on someone else.”

‘Kiss goodbye’

He added that the discovery of the magazine had not led to problems with Milly. On the day she disappeared she made a point of kissing him goodbye as she left for school.

Mr Dowler said he last spoke to his daughter at 3.45pm on 21 March, when she told him she was going to be late home “in a totally normal conversation”.

Bellfield is said to have snatched her “in the blink of an eye” as she walked past an entrance to the rented groundfloor flat in Collingwood Place shortly after 4pm.

It is alleged that Bellfield was at the wheel of a red Daewoo Nexia, which was captured on CCTV 22 minutes after Milly’s disappearance,

A day earlier, it is claimed he tried to abduct 11-year-old Rachel Cowles in Upper Halliford Road, Shepperton, just three miles away.

Like Milly, she was on her way home from school when she said a “chubby-faced” man in a red car offered her a lift, claiming to be her new neighbour.

Milly’s body was found six months later in September 2002 by mushroom pickers in Yateley Heath woods, Hampshire.

Bellfield denies any involvement in her disappearance and murder. The case continues.