Member Article

Family fight for funds to find Ben Needham

A human rights lawyer is helping the family of missing toddler Ben Needham secure funding to continue the search to find him.

Ben was just 21 months old when he went missing from the Greek island of Kos back in 1991. Over the years there have been a number of potential sightings and numerous theories over what really happened to Ben, who would be 25 today.

Now Ian Brownhill, a barrister with No5 Chambers, is helping the family by throwing the full weight of the law behind the search. He plans to write to the Home Office asking why it has taken 10 months to reply to a funding request from South Yorkshire Police.

“There is cash available and I will be writing to Home Secretary Theresa May to ask her to release it,” said Mr Brownhill. “There are a number of new and active leads in this case, and we want the money to fund a team of detectives to follow up those leads.

“If the Home Office still don’t respond, we will seriously consider taking legal action against the government claiming it is unfair and not legal to keep the Needham family – and indeed Ben himself – waiting for an answer on funding.”

Mr Brownhill stepped in to help the family after seeing their @FindBenNeedham campaign on twitter. He has offered his services free of charge.

He said: “Historically, my family has come from the same the village outside Sheffield as Ben, and I remember as a child when he went missing. It had a huge impact on everyone when it happened, and when I saw their appeal on twitter I thought I could be of assistance.”

Ben’s mum Kerry has said the family feels abandoned by the government, especially when they compare the lack of help they have received to the efforts made to find Madeleine McCann who disappeared in Portugal in 2007. At that time, David Cameron’s personal intervention created a Met Office team to investigate her case, which it is reported cost up to £10m.

The Home Office backed a South Yorkshire Police operation in 2012 to excavate land in Kos near to the farmhouse where Ben went missing, but no trace was found.

Mr Brownhill added: “If South Yorkshire Police was granted funding it would work in collaboration with Greek police to follow up information that the family say has not been properly investigated.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Taylor .