Claudia Lawrence’s mother hits out at ‘insulting’ £40,000 probe
THE MOTHER of missing York chef Claudia Lawrence has claimed it is “impossible” for police to investigate potential further offences committed by sex killer Christopher Halliwell after the allocation of a reported £40,000 for the inquiry.
Joan Lawrence spoke out after the mother of one of Halliwell’s two victims said the allocated £40,000 was “insulting”.
Karen Edwards, whose daughter Becky Godden was one of two women killed by Halliwell, condemned the level of the funding.
The £40,000 has reportedly been allocated to continue investigating the jailed cab driver, who has been linked to at least 12 other murdered or missing women.
Ms Edwards told The Sunday People: “It’s an insult to the memory of those who are still waiting for loved ones to come home. You will never, ever, ever get closure but if the police response was adequate
then at least some loved ones could put them to rest.
“To put £40,000 into the investigation is despicable. It just makes me sick. They should be doing more to help the loved ones of his victims so they can give them the burial they should have.”
Ms Edwards said Halliwell would “never confess anything” but there may be “loads of evidence” about him which police could discover.
Joan Lawrence, whose daughter has been missing since 2009, also told the paper: “There are so many other people and crimes that Halliwell has been linked to. It’s impossible for the force to carry out a proper review with such a small amount of money.”
The disappearance a decade ago of Miss Lawrence, a chef at the University of York, sparked one of Britain’s biggest missing person inquiries.
The last confirmed contact anyone had was when she spoke to her mother on the phone just after 8pm on March 18, 2009. Miss Lawrence failed to attend work the following day, and was reported missing on the Friday.
Police confirmed the following month that they were treating her disappearance as murder.