Ex-doorman to go on trial over Milly Dowler murder

A FORMER doorman will go on trial accused of kidnapping and murdering 13-year-old Milly Dowler, prosecutors said today.

Levi Bellfield, 41, will also be charged with another kidnapping.

The suspect was first interviewed over Milly's death several years ago after he was held by the Metropolitan Police.

Speaking in Guildford, Surrey, today, Nigel Pilkington, CPS reviewing solicitor, said Bellfield will be told he faces three charges.

The suspect is accused of kidnapping and murdering Milly and attempting to kidnap another young girl, Rachel Cowles, the previous day.

Mr Pilkington said a summons has been obtained from Staines Magistrates' Court and will be served on Bellfield.

He added that he will meet Milly's parents, Sally and Bob Dowler, later today to explain his decision.

The murder of Amanda Dowler, known to her family as Milly, is one of Britain's best-known unsolved crimes.

She vanished while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 21 March 2002.

Six months later her skeletal remains were found 30 miles away by mushroom pickers in Yateley Heath, Hampshire.

Officials at the CPS complex casework unit began considering a huge dossier of police evidence last August.

The five files of material, drawn together by Surrey Police's Operation Ruby team, include new evidence against Bellfield obtained in December 2008.