Milly Dowler killer Levi Bellfield wins bid to marry his partner in prison
Serial killer Levi Bellfield will be allowed to marry his girlfriend in prison while serving life after a legal aid challenge to an attempt to block it.
Bellfield is serving two whole life orders for killing 13-year-old Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy.
Bellfield threatened legal action to get married after proposing to his partner during one of her visits.
Officials moved to refuse the marriage but have accepted there is no way to stop it under current laws.
The Sun reports he has won a bid to be granted up to £30,000 in legal aid after his lawyers cited the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1983 Marriage Act.
Bellfield also claimed to have been the victim of discrimination after officers banned him from wearing an engagement ring, the paper reports.
The government has been trying to block the release of dangerous prisoners and ban criminals serving whole life orders from marrying under plans to overhaul the parole system.
Plans, unveiled in March, included the prospect of prisoners serving whole life orders – where the offender spends the rest of their life behind bars apart from in exceptional circumstances – being barred from marrying or forming a civil partnership in jail.
The then-Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said: “There is a history of vulnerable women who have become pen pals with serial killers or particularly nasty offenders who get into relationships and then there is an issue around marriage.
“We’re doing this as a safeguarding issue but also as a public confidence in the justice system issue.”
Mr Raab told MPs that public protection would be the “exclusive focus” of the Parole Board decision-making process under new reforms.
Upon receiving Bellfield’s application for marriage in 2022, Mr Raab said: “What I can tell you is it is inconceivable that the prison or the Ministry of Justice would authorise that marriage unless the very significant concerns about the safeguarding were addressed.”
Bellfield received a whole life sentence for the murder of Marsha McDonnell, 19, in 2003, Amelie Delagrange, 22, and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, 18, in 2004.
He was already serving his sentence when he went on trial for killing schoolgirl Milly, who was snatched from the street walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in March 2002.
He was found guilty of abducting and killing the 13-year-old following a trial at the Old Bailey in 2011.
More than 60 criminals are believed to be currently serving whole life orders.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Under current laws there are no legal routes to block this marriage and we recognise the pain and anger this outcome will bring to his victims’ families.
“It is what has driven our plans to stop prisoners on whole life orders from marrying in prison through our new Victims and Prisoners Bill – ensuring this never happens again.”
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