Wiltshire Police has apologised to the family of murdered sex worker Becky Godden after it was criticised for failing to bring her killer to justice sooner.

Christopher Halliwell, a taxi driver from Swindon, murdered Miss Godden, 20, in January 2003 and Sian O’Callaghan, 22, in March 2011.

The police watchdog found there was a “fog of confusion” over who was in command of the investigation into Miss Godden’s disappearance.

Halliwell, now 57, confessed to the killing of Miss O’Callaghan six days after abducting her, and took police to her body before offering “another one” and confessing to Miss Godden’s murder.

He then led police to where he had buried Miss Godden in January 2003.

Flaws in the way the investigation was handled between 2011 and 2014 meant that he was not prosecuted for the murder of Miss Godden until 2016. He was jailed for the murder of Miss O’Callaghan in 2012.

A judge ruled that the way in which his confession was obtained breached Police and Criminal Evidence Act rules, meaning the charge of murdering Miss Godden was dropped at his first trial.

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In a report published on Friday, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said between 2011 and 2014 the inquiry into Ms Godden’s death was “poorly progressed and supervised, reasonable lines of inquiry were not pursued, and key evidence was not forensically examined”.

Among the examples of poor practice identified by the IOPC were the fact that a soil sample taken from a spade belonging to Halliwell in 2011 was not forensically examined until three years later.

It was then found to match rare soil in the field where Miss Godden was found.

A pond in Ramsbury, Wiltshire, which was identified as Halliwell’s “trophy store” of women’s clothing and other items, was not investigated until 2014, by which time much of the evidence was severely degraded.

Chief Constable Kier Pritchard, from Wiltshire Police, apologised to Miss Godden’s family.

“As chief constable of the force, I fully accept the findings and recommendations outlined in today’s report and I have had the opportunity to personally apologise to members of Becky’s family,” he said.

“This has certainly been an opportunity for deep personal reflection for me. I acknowledge that there was confusion at the time concerning the oversight of the investigation into Becky’s murder, as highlighted within the IOPC investigation. This arose, in part, due to the major crime collaboration being in its infancy. For that, I am really sorry.

“The murder investigation was a complex case with very unique circumstances. We always strove to deliver justice for Becky’s family, further to the tragic and shocking loss of their much loved daughter.”

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