Amelie man in cuffs

PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: New of the World watch
as Amelie's murder suspect gets arrested

THIS is the dramatic moment when the Amelie murder suspect was clapped in handcuffs.

The News of the World was first on the scene as the burly wheel clamper was arrested.

Levi Bellfield, 36, a former nightclub bouncer, was seized at the council house he shares with his common-law wife and three children in a dawn raid on Monday.

Cops wanted to quiz him over the brutal murder of 22-year-old French student Amelie Delagrange, who was battered to death by a hammer maniac on Twickenham Green, south west London in August.

On Thursday, Bellfield appeared at Horseferry Road Magistrates Court charged with three unrelated counts of rape in Surrey and west London and was remanded in custody.

Bellfield was officially arrested on Monday in connection with the death of Amelie and the attempted murder of another woman.

Following the arrest, forensic teams carried out a series of painstaking searches on addresses in west London.

They even dug up the back garden of Bellfield's semi in West Drayton, Middlesex, in their search for clues.

Attacks

He was questioned by detectives who are also investigating the murder of 19-year-old Marsha McDonnell—bludgeoned in Hampton, west London, in February 2003—and a string of other alleged attacks on women.

Bellfield, whose features have been obscured in our exclusive photographs for legal reasons, brought his hands up to his face as four detectives led him to their car to take him away for questioning.

Last night, the police stressed how important it was to find a white van spotted near Twickenham Green on the night of Amelie's murder. A spokesman said: "We still need to find this van. If your readers can help trace this vehicle they could be giving us the golden nugget of information which will help bring Amelie's killer to justice."

The van is a white Ford Courier, registration P610 XCN.

It had once been owned by a firm called Cargo Air Services, based at Stanwell near Heathrow Airport.

But it was sold before Amelie's murder and was not re-registered.

Keys and a purse belonging to Amelie were found in the river at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, after her murder. But her bag and mobile phone have never been found.

Milly

Bellfield had been living in Walton-on-Thames at the time of 14-year-old Milly Dowler's disappearance. Cops probing her murder in 2002 are now carrying out checks on Bellfield.

On Thursday, he was bailed in connection with the murder of Amelie Delagrange and the attempted murder and robbery of a 26-year-old woman in 2002. He is due to face further questioning in January.