The mother of a murdered schoolgirl says she is considering legal action against journalist Martin Bashir after he took her daughter’s clothes for DNA testing for a BBC programme 30 years ago and never returned them.
Michelle Hadaway says not having the clothing may have hindered her pursuing her daughter’s killer in court and called for an apology from Mr Bashir.
In his interview in The Sunday Times, Mr Bashir was asked about the potentially crucial piece of evidence and replied: “I may have lost it but I don’t remember.”
Karen Hadaway and her friend Nicola Fellows were found sexually assaulted and strangled in a woodland den in Brighton in October 1986 in what became known as the Babes in the Wood murders.
Ms Hadaway went on to say she was considering legal action when asked. She said: I will be (speaking to lawyers), very much so. He said he doesn t even remember meeting me. I can t think for one moment how he wouldn t remember a high-profile case such as this. Mr Bashir has responded to the allegation that he lost the potentially crucial evidence in an interview with The Times. I may have lost it but I don t remember, he said. The BBC said: When people raise concerns of this kind about our programmes, of course we look into them. The BBC has changed radically over the past 25 years and has significantly better processes and procedures in place to protect contributors, but we also know that it is important to keep learning.
Exclusive
The BBC has invited the mother to speak with them about how her daughter s clothing was lost THE BBC has agreed to speak with the mother of Babes in the Wood victim Karen Hadaway to discuss how her murdered daughter s clothing was lost. The grieving mum said BBC reporter Martin Bashir took away her clothing for DNA testing in 1991 but never returned it. Michelle Hadaway said Mr Bashir in 1991 signed a note to say he was taking clothes. She says the items were what Karen was wearing when she died. The nine-year-old was murdered along with her friend Nicola Fellows in Wild Park, Brighton, 1986.
The mother of a Babes in the Wood murder victim has branded Martin Bashir a dishonest rogue and called for a criminal investigation after she claimed he delayed the killer s capture by losing her daughter s blood-stained clothing.
The journalist, who has been condemned for his 1995 Panorama interview with Princess Diana, is said to have visited the grieving family of nine-year-old Karen Hadaway and took away the clothes she had been wearing.
Bashir allegedly promised to get the sweatshirt and vest she was wearing at the time of the tragedy DNA tested.
But Karen s mother, Michelle Johnson, claims the family never saw the reporter - or their daughter s clothes - ever again and is now calling for a probe into his alleged actions, similar to the recent Dyson Report.