Detective accused of altering notes during Bellfield trial

7:46pm Wednesday 24th October 2007

A detective who worked on the team investigating the alleged kidnapping of Anna Maria Rennie was accused of altering notes she submitted to the Old Bailey.

Detective Constable Pamela Hoad was asked about her involvement in the case of Anna Maria Rennie, who alleges she was attacked by bouncer Levi Bellfield in Hospital Bridge Road, Whitton, on October 15, 2001.

Bellfield, 39, of West Drayton, denies charges of kidnapping and the false imprisonment of Miss Rennie. He also denies the murders of Amelie Delagrange and 19-year-old gap year student Marsha McDonnell as well as two charges of attempted murder.

D Con Hoad told the court she had worked as an investigator on Miss Rennie's case, but as a trained welfare officer she was also asked to look after her well-being.

Mark Boyce, defending, suggested to the court that D Con Hoad had pressured Miss Rennie into changing her account of the alleged attack.

He asked whether D Con Hoad had focused on Miss Rennie's case or if she was involved in the investigation into Amelie Delagrange's death.

Miss Delagrange was found lying in a foetal position after being battered round the head and left for dead on Twickenham Green on August 19, 2004. She died in hospital the following day from her injuries.

D Con Hoad said she had worked on both cases.

Under cross examination she was asked about informal conversations she had with Miss Rennie after picking her up from Gatwick Airport on March 29, 2005, a day before Miss Rennie made her formal witness statement.

Mr Boyce focused on two notes the detective had made in her notebook that were not on the photocopy of the page submitted to the defence counsel.

One of the notes related to the suspect and the car involved in the alleged attack on Miss Rennie.

The court heard that Miss Rennie, who suffers from dyslexia and has admitted she often forgets entire conversations, had originally told a police officer she was certain the prefix of the car's registration was L651.

Mr Boyce asked D Con Hoad whether inscriptions "Dan bouncer at Rockies" and "blue Mondeo-tidy L/M registration" had been blotted out with correction fluid before they were photocopied and submitted for the trial.

D Con Hoad told the court: "I would not have Typexed anything out of my book." She said she must have written the notes in after submitting the photocopies.

Mr Boyce also accused the detective of pressuring Miss Rennie to change her account of the alleged attack to match her original story.

Following a witness statement made on March 30, 2005, the court heard that D Con Hoad phoned Miss Rennie in Spain, where she has lived since 2004.

Mr Boyce told the jury Miss Rennie's account of the journey she took on the night of the alleged attack put her on the opposite side of the road to where the offence is said to have taken place. In her statement Miss Rennie also did not remember sitting at the bus stop, which Mr Boyce claimed contradicts what she said in her original report to police.

He said to D Con Hoad: "You were pushing her to say you might have sat down at the bus stop."

Mr Boyce also asked D Con Hoad why she had not asked Miss Rennie about her admission to D Con Michael Mantle, the second police officer to visit Miss Rennie four days after her alleged attack, that she had been drinking on the night.

He said drinking affects memory and reliability, but D Con Hoad said she did not think it was relevant because she did not believe Miss Rennie, who identified Bellfield in an ID parade in 2005, had been drinking heavily that night.

The trial continues.

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