BBC Ignored 2 Warnings Over Missing 1986 Murder Clothes as Author Claimed He Burned Them
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15
BBC Ignored 2 Warnings Over Missing 1986 Murder Clothes as Author Claimed He Burned Them
1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15
Summary
Two whistleblowers told the BBC in 2022 and 2023 that true-crime author Christopher Berry-Dee said he had Karen Hadaway’s missing clothes, but the broadcaster closed the case without further action.
Berry-Dee told the Guardian it was “100% correct” he had obtained the clothes and claimed he later burned them, though he did not explain how that fit the known timeline.
Karen Hadaway, 10, was murdered with Nicola Fellows in the 1986 Babes in the Woods case; the clothes were handed to BBC journalist Martin Bashir in 1991 and discovered missing when police sought them in 2004.
The BBC apologised in 2023 and settled with Karen’s mother over losing the clothes, but declined to say whether it investigated the warnings, saying the matter had been examined as thoroughly as possible.