THE mother of Becky Godden-Edwards has spoken of her enduring grief 10 years after detectives told her they had discovered her body. 

Becky was 20-years-old when she disappeared in 2003. Taxi driver Christopher Halliwell was found guilty in 2016 of murdering the Swindon woman, having five years earlier led police to the Gloucestershire field where her remains were buried.

Speaking a decade on from that awful discovery, Becky’s mother, Karen Edwards, said: “Unless you have experienced the loss of a child, no one can comprehend how it feels and I do not wish that upon anyone. The pain never goes away, you just learn to live with it every day.”

Karen, who thanked people of Swindon for their support over the past two decades, added: “Still to this day it hurts deeply. It’s a day myself and my family will always remember with intense pain. 

“Becky may have left my world but she will never, ever leave my heart."

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

Becky Godden-Edwards Pictures: ADVER/FAMILY 

Yesterday would have marked Becky’s 39th birthday.

Christopher Halliwell, who was convicted in 2012 of murdering Sian O’Callaghan, is currently serving two life sentences.

He was initially also charged with murdering Becky but, after a judge in 2012 concluded that a confession made to senior detective Det Supt Steve Fulcher was inadmissible, the charge was withdrawn. 

Karen and her family campaigned for a change in the law around police procedure, delivering to Downing Street a petition signed by more than 40,000 people.

She told the Adver she could never forgive her daughter’s killer. “Becky had her life taken in the cruellest of ways. There are lots of things you can forgive but I will never, ever forgive Halliwell for what he did not just to Becky but to Sian and, I still believe, many others despite what Wiltshire Police will say.”

Like Det Supt Fulcher, who lost his career in the police force over a failure to properly caution Halliwell after he confessed to Becky’s murder, Karen believes the former taxi driver is responsible for the deaths of other women. 

Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard:

Christopher Halliwell's police custody shot 

Despite the discovery in 2014 of what was suggested to be Halliwell’s trophy store, containing items owned by his two victims, Wiltshire Police is not actively pursuing lines of enquiry

Last month, Mr Fulcher told The Mirror: “Everything about his MO, everything about the calls he received and made from prison - the notion that ‘police are investigating me for eight murders’, his own words.

“His trophy store at Ramsbury with 60 items of women’s clothing, everything about his history and behaviour indicates that we haven’t, and probably never will, get to the bottom of his full offending.

“And that in turn means there are any number of mothers and fathers who will never find their daughter again.

“I’m left with a very bad taste in my mouth - it’s the summary of it.”

Robert Buckland, South Swindon MP and Lord Chancellor, praised the campaigning efforts of Mrs Edwards and paid tribute to Becky and Sian.

He said: “The memory of his victims will live on in the minds of their families and our community. I want to pay tribute to them and their families and recall the immense suffering that they have all been through in order to deliver justice for Sian and Becky.”