BBC Warned About Missing Clothes of Murder Victim

Published: 15 August 2026.The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

The BBC was warned by two whistleblowers that British true crime author Christopher Berry-Dee had claimed to possess the missing clothes of Karen Hadaway, the nine-year-old girl murdered in Brighton in 1986, raising fresh questions about what happened to evidence that was lost while in the broadcaster’s possession.

Karen Hadaway was murdered alongside her nine-year-old best friend, Nicola Fellows, in Brighton’s Wild Park in what became known as the Babes in the Woods murders. The killings have remained one of the most haunting unsolved child murder cases in Britain, with the whereabouts of Karen’s clothing becoming a separate mystery after the garments disappeared while being handled by the BBC.

The corporation was reportedly informed about Berry-Dee’s alleged claims on two separate occasions. One warning came from freelance journalist Eileen Fairweather, who had been involved in earlier work connected to the case and later investigated the disappearance of the clothing. A second warning was sent to the office of former BBC director general Tim Davie by Ian Heffron, an uncle of Nicola Fellows.

According to information that has emerged, both warnings raised the possibility that Berry-Dee had claimed to have obtained Karen’s clothes during the 1990s or 2000s. The claims have added another layer to a long-running mystery over the evidence and have prompted questions about whether the BBC adequately investigated information that could potentially have helped establish what happened to the garments.

Karen’s clothes were originally retained as important evidence following her murder. In the late 1980s, Berry-Dee reportedly campaigned for police to return the garments to Karen’s family. He subsequently attempted to persuade her parents to hand them to him, offering to arrange advanced DNA testing that he said could potentially assist the investigation.

In his book A Question of Evidence, Berry-Dee described Karen’s parents giving him the clothes in an emotional exchange. However, the garments appear to have subsequently been returned before they were handed to journalist Martin Bashir in 1991.

Bashir was then working on a possible BBC documentary about the murders. Eileen Fairweather, a freelance journalist who was working with Bashir on the investigation, was present when Karen’s mother, Michelle Hadaway, handed over her daughter’s clothing.

Fairweather recalled the garments being placed inside a bin liner, with a clear plastic evidence bag inside. She said the bloodstains were visible through the bag, underlining the potential evidential significance of the material.

The clothes were subsequently lost while in the BBC’s possession. The disappearance became publicly known in 2004 when a police detective contacted the corporation seeking their return. The BBC discovered that it could not locate them and later apologised to Karen’s mother. The corporation eventually reached a financial settlement with her over the loss.

The mystery surrounding the garments resurfaced years later when Fairweather began investigating their disappearance again. Her renewed interest followed the wider scrutiny of the BBC’s conduct surrounding Bashir, particularly after an inquiry concluded that he had used forged documents to deceive Diana, Princess of Wales, into agreeing to the 1995 Panorama interview.

During her investigation, Fairweather was told by sources that Berry-Dee had boasted about having Karen’s clothes during the 1990s and 2000s. The allegations were particularly significant because of his earlier involvement with the garments and his public interest in the case.

Fairweather also uncovered information about Berry-Dee’s history, including allegations that he had twice been arrested and once charged in connection with alleged child sexual abuse. He was never convicted of those allegations. Berry-Dee has denied allegations of sexual and violent offences made against him.

The exact timeline of the clothing remains unclear. Berry-Dee told the Guardian that it was “100% correct” that he had obtained the garments and claimed that he later burned them. However, he did not provide a detailed explanation of when he had allegedly obtained them or clarify whether he had acquired them again after Michelle Hadaway handed the clothing to the BBC.

The uncertainty surrounding the timeline is central to the latest questions. If Berry-Dee obtained the clothes after they were handed to the BBC, it could raise questions about how the garments left the corporation’s possession. If his claim referred only to an earlier period, before the BBC received them, it would not explain their disappearance from the broadcaster.

A lawyer representing Bashir said the former journalist had no recollection of Berry-Dee. According to the lawyer, Berry-Dee left the clothing at the BBC’s Public Eye offices and that was the extent of his involvement with the garments from Bashir’s perspective.

Fairweather contacted the BBC’s whistleblowing unit in 2022, telling the corporation that she believed Berry-Dee was the last person known to have possessed Karen’s clothes. The BBC reportedly said that senior leadership was reviewing the allegations.

Three years later, Fairweather was informed that the corporation had closed the case and would take no further action.

A separate warning was sent to the office of Tim Davie by Ian Heffron, whose niece Nicola Fellows was murdered alongside Karen. Heffron contacted the BBC after Davie had apologised to a parliamentary committee on behalf of the corporation for losing Karen’s clothing.

He asked the BBC to make urgent enquiries into whether it had ever employed or been associated with Berry-Dee. He explained that his concern came from information that the author had claimed to have possessed Karen’s clothes.

Davie’s office confirmed that the email had been received, but Heffron said he received no further substantive response.

The revelations have raised difficult questions about the BBC’s handling of the missing evidence and whether information provided to the corporation was investigated adequately. The clothing was not simply personal property belonging to a murder victim. It had been collected and preserved in connection with a major criminal investigation and could potentially have contained forensic evidence.

The BBC declined to comment specifically on whether it took action following the warnings from Fairweather and Heffron. A spokesperson said the corporation had apologised in 2023 for falling short in its duty of care towards Michelle Hadaway and had reached a settlement with her concerning the loss of her daughter’s clothes.

The BBC also said it believed the matter had been investigated as thoroughly as possible.

For Karen’s family and those who have followed the case for decades, however, the disappearance of the clothing remains a painful unresolved issue. The garments were physically recovered from the family, transferred into the hands of journalists and then disappeared after becoming associated with a BBC investigation.

The latest claims do not establish what ultimately happened to the clothes, and Berry-Dee’s account has not been independently verified. His statement that he once possessed them and later burned them leaves significant questions unanswered, particularly regarding the chronology of his alleged possession.

The case also illustrates the lasting consequences that can arise when material connected to a serious criminal investigation is lost. For families of victims, the disappearance of evidence can represent more than an administrative failure. It can create decades of uncertainty and leave unanswered questions about whether potentially important information was permanently destroyed.

Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows were killed more than four decades ago, yet their deaths continue to resonate in Brighton and beyond. The latest revelations have brought renewed attention to the circumstances surrounding Karen’s clothing and the responsibility of organisations that handle sensitive material connected to victims of violent crime.

The central mystery remains unresolved: the BBC has acknowledged losing Karen’s clothes, while Berry-Dee has claimed that he possessed them and later destroyed them. Between those two accounts lies a timeline that has yet to be fully explained.

The new information is therefore unlikely to end questions surrounding the missing evidence. Instead, it adds another troubling chapter to a case that has already endured decades of investigation, uncertainty and grief.