Two grisly murders and a twist that’s stranger than fiction ...

FOR your daughter to have been brutally murdered, her killer to have admitted it and even led police to her body, the pain of seeing them fail to prosecute him must be unimaginable.

Yet that was the situation for Karen Edwards, whose daughter Becky was killed by Christopher Halliwell. Last night’s episode of A Confession (ITV), based on real events, dealt with the fallout that followed Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher’s failure to apprehend a suspect.

Sian o’Callaghan had disappeared after leaving a nightclub in Swindon in 2011 and good oldfashioned police work had led Fulcher to her abductor and murderer. Cabbie Halliwell had picked Sian up in his taxi and killed her.

But rather than taking Halliwell to the station, Fulcher went for a drive with him. It seemed justified given Halliwell confessed not only to Sian’s murder but also that of Becky eight years earlier.

Yet at a pre-trial hearing it was ruled that Fulcher had used ‘oppression’ to get his confessions and that they could not be admissible evidence.

Unaware of her murder, Becky’s heartbroken mum, played by Imelda Staunton, planned a birthday party in her daughter’s honour every year. DNA evidence meant Halliwell could still be charged with Sian’s murder but there was nothing to link him to Becky. It would be another five years before he was convicted.

Also heartbroken was Sian’s mother Elaine (Siobhan Finneran) who resented her daughter’s name being linked with that of Becky, a runaway sex worker who battled drug addiction.

A Confession continues to do a superb job in humanising the aftermath of a horrifying crime.

Joe Absolom gives a chilling portrayal as Halliwell while Martin Freeman is exemplary as beleaguered detective Fulcher.

But, last night, it was the leading ladies who stole the show.

The episode ended with Fulcher told he was off the case and that his suspicions of Halliwell being a serial killer were dismissed, which would have been unbelievable and far-fetched had the drama been a work of fiction.

Very much real was the endless negotiation that seemed to go on with prisoners at HMP Winchester in (C4). rioting prisoners were pandered to and offered cold drinks to lure them back to their cells.

With severe staff shortages in jails, Winchester is undergoing ‘special measures’. Even when fully staffed there are only 48 personnel, 25 per cent fewer than recommended. It all contributed to a powderkeg where staff live in fear of losing control.

The only solution available to Governor Stephanie robertsBibby was to let inmates out of their cells for just 45 minutes a day, even though it undermined her desire to rehabilitate those in her care. Needless to say, 23 hours in a cell did nothing to calm the simmering rage and resentment of prisoners.

Carl Lloyd, serving time for assault, said there might as well be an ‘abandon all hope’ sign over his cell. Prison officer Emma Beeson took the job because she hoped to be able to build relationships with prisoners and help them rehabilitate. The staffing crisis made that difficult, although one prisoner had written to her to tell her that she’d cared more about his wellbeing than his own parents ever had.

As disturbing and compelling as it is, the series claims to take a look at all aspects of the justice system.

But, so far, it’s failing to live up to that. After two episodes, all we’ve seen is Winchester Prison buckling under the strain of volatile prisoners and lack of staff.