Serial killer Levi Bellfield will be allowed to marry his besotted girlfriend in prison – after receiving as much as £30,000 in legal aid to fund his case.
The 55-year-old murderer, who is serving life at Durham’s Frankland Prison, threatened a human rights case if he was not allowed to wed and cried discrimination when he was not allowed to wear an engagement ring.
News of his proposed nuptials with the woman, who is in her 40s, sparked outrage when they were revealed last year, and then Justice Secretary Dominic Raab vowed action to stop it happening.
Bellfield is currently serving two whole-life orders for the murders of Milly Dowler in 2002, Marsha McDonnell in 2003 and Amelie Delagrange in 2004, as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy in the same year.
Police officers and MPs said the case was ‘grotesque’ and an ‘insult to the victims and their families’ and demanded that legislation to prevent the marriage was sped up.
The 55-year-old murderer, who is serving life at Durham’s Frankland Prison, threatened a human rights case if he was not allowed to wed
He was reportedly introduced to his blonde fiancee by fellow prisoner Peter Sutcliffe before he died
Lawyers for the convicted killer argued that the European Convention on Human Rights and the 1983 Marriage Act gave Bellfield the right to marry.
The monster killer demanded video calls with his bride-to-be, a blonde woman in her forties, and the ability to have his picture taken with her.
A government source told The Sun that there was no way to stop the murderer marrying as the law currently stands and that officials were deciding when to tell Bellfield about the decision to approve his wedding.
Ministers have vowed to ban the practice of prisoners marrying, as some 60 prisoners, many of them serving long jail terms, applied to marry last year.
Former Justice Secretary Dominic Raab introduced a Victims Bill in March, banning those on whole-life tariffs from marrying while incarcerated.
Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke said: ‘This is a disgusting insult to the victims and their families.
‘This is a man who took away the human rights of young girls and women, including the right to live their lives and marry.’
He demanded that the Justice Secretary pass the new legislation to stop the nuptials quickly.
David Spencer, research director at the Centre for Crime Prevention, said it was ‘horrific’ that Bellfield would be allowed to marry and that the taxpayer funding the case was ‘even more grotesque’.
‘Criminals of his type have forfeited their rights and if the law currently permits him to be married then that should be changed.
‘His time behind bars should be spent reflecting on his horrific crimes, not enjoying home comforts.’
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk is said to have received legal advice that he could not block the prisoner’s marriage, with a source telling The Sun that his ‘hands appear to be tied’.
‘The only card the prison and the Ministry of Justice could play is if they said it was unsafe for the woman, who could be the victim of manipulation and coercive control,’ the source explained.
Bellfield’s new fiancee previously told the Mirror: ‘He is not a monster. Yes he has a bad past, but 17 years in prison changes a person.
‘He has changed, he has remorse, and there are always reasons a person goes wrong in life.
‘There is always a far bigger picture. He is 53 years old, still young and has to live knowing he will just grow old and die in that horrendous place.’
Sources close to Bellfield say that he is more interested in the ‘drama’ than in actually getting married (Pictured: his fiancee)
Bellfield is known to have killed three people, including 13-year-old Milly Dowler (pictured)
He also killed 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell (left) and 22-year-old Amelie Delagrange (right)
Sources close to Bellfield say that he is more interested in the ‘drama’ than in actually getting married.
Bellfield was introduced to his fiancée through Peter Sutcliffe, who was friends with the woman before he died in 2020.
Bellfield and Sutcliffe were on the same wing in HMP Frankland. Bellfield asked to be put in touch with her after seeing her picture in Sutcliffe’s cell, according to reports.
They spoke on the phone, before she then began visiting Bellfield at the County Durham prison.
‘What people don’t realise is that the woman was friends with Sutcliffe for years before he died, although there was no romance between them,’ a source told the Sun.
They said that Bellfield asked for Sutcliffe’s consent to write to her, around a year before he died.
His fiancée has now said that she is ‘not ashamed’ of their relationship, and believes that Bellfield has ‘changed’ and is ‘not a monster’.
She described herself to the Mirror as ‘extremely non-judgemental’, adding that she and her fiancé have had ‘kisses and cuddles’ in the County Durham prison.
Bellfield is currently behind bars at HMP Frankfield (pictured) and is unlikely to ever be released
Bellfield was put in touch with his now-fiance by Peter Sutcliffe (pictured), after seeing a picture of her in the Yorkshire Ripper’s cell
Other prisoners who have married include Britian’s ‘most violent offender’ Charles Bronson and Julian Assange, of WikiLeaks fame.
Bellfield was questioned by police over the unsolved killing of 19-year-old student Elizabeth Chau in 1999 last month, having confessed to the murder.
He is also under investigation by the Criminal Cases Review over the 1996 murders of Dr Lin Russell and daughter Megan, six, which he has also said was him.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘The application is being considered in the usual way.
‘In future, our new Victims and Prisoners Bill will stop prisoners serving whole-life orders from marrying or forming a civil partnership in prison.’
