Milly’s family marks ten years since abduction

Milly, 13, vanished while returning from school to her home in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, on 21 March, 2002. Hopes she could be found alive were dashed six months later when mushroom pickers came across her body in a wood 25 miles from her home.

Milly’s family had to wait until last June before former bouncer Levi Bellfield, 43, was convicted of her murder. Bellfield was serving a whole life sentence for murdering two young women and attempting to murder a third when he was charged in March 2010 with killing Milly.

Just weeks before the start of Bellfield’s trial, detectives uncovered evidence that the News of the World hacked their daughter’s mobile phone following her disappearance. The shocking revelation lead to widespread public outcry, sparking a chain of events resulting in the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.