THE grieving dad of murder victim Becky Godden has said the ITV drama about her death has “ruined his life”.
John Godden claimed the show, A Confession, was guilty of “character assassination” because of the way he was portrayed as an uncaring dad.
“ITV have killed me... and killed Becky again,” he told the Sunday Mirror.
“My life has been ruined over this. ITV have a lot to answer for. They should hang their heads in shame.”
The drama follows the investigations into the deaths of sex worker Becky, 21, and personal assistant Sian O'Callaghan, 22, at the hands of evil taxi driver Christopher Halliwell.
Becky was strangled and decapitated in 2003 by Halliwell who buried her body in a field in Gloucestershire.
He had become besotted with her after meeting her while working as a taxi driver in the red-light district of Swindon.
Becky had run away from home and become “disconnected” from her family after she became hooked on heroin and sniffing aerosols.
Her family only reported her missing in 2007 – four years after the murder – after relatives became increasingly concerned about her whereabouts.
But her murder only came to light in 2011 when Halliwell was arrested over the disappearance of Sian.
After he led cops to the spot where he dumped Sian's body - and was subsequently charged with her murder - he offered detectives "another one".
He then took officers to the place where he'd buried Becky's headless corpse eight years earlier.
SHE'D BE 'TURNING IN HER GRAVE'
Becky’s dad John said Becky would be “turning in her grave if she had seen the way I’ve been treated”.
He claims he pleaded with ITV not to air scenes which made him look like an uncaring oaf – and says they did not respect his wishes.
“When I saw the show I sat there in shock at how I was being portrayed – even the way the actor was dressed was nothing like me.
“I lost a daughter in the most horrific way. To not show me any compassion is disgusting. You don’t do that to people who are grieving.”
John vented his fury at being painted as an unfit dad who did nothing to help find his missing daughter.
'IT'S ALL LIES'
He highlighted a scene where he says the family was blamed for confusing the search, insisting: “It’s all lies”.
The heartbroken dad revealed he was trolled on social media over his portrayal as a disinterested dad and felt too scared to leave his house.
And he never got to meet the actor who played him in the drama, Christopher Fulford.
A spokesman for ITV said: “We listened to what John had to say and, where possible, amended some scenes to reflect his thoughts.
“We are satisfied that what was depicted in the finished piece was both accurate and fair.”
The six-part series, attracted five million viewers when it aired in September, was based on a book written by Detective Supt Steve Fulcher, played by Martin Freeman.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Becky’s mum, Karen Edwards, had a more positive reaction to the telly drama.
She previously told The Sun how it felt like she was “holding Becky again” when she embraced the actress playing her murdered daughter.
In A Confession, Karen is played by Imelda Staunton and said: “The drama came as a welcome distraction to everyone in our family.
She revealed she met Imelda three times — twice before filming and once on set.
A Confession spoilers: Prime suspect buckles as Steve piles on pressure in search for missing SianncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jqecsKtfZn10fZRra2pnkpqwrMWMoKadnJWjeqWtw2agra5dlnqku82fnKyrmaS7cA%3D%3D