Fred West cafe search 'risks raising family's hopes'

Mary Bastholm used to work at the cafe in Southgate Street, Gloucester, where Fred West was a regular customer

A criminologist has said investigators searching for suspected Fred West victim Mary Bastholm must be careful not to raise the family's hopes.

The 15-year-old, who worked at a cafe now called The Clean Plate, went missing in the city on 6 January 1968.

Forensic experts examining a basement in the Gloucester cafe removed kitchen equipment earlier.

Professor Jane Monckton-Smith said if nothing was found that could be "worse than doing nothing".

The professor of public protection at the University of Gloucestershire said: "It's incredibly disruptive to start digging, so I think the police need to be quite convinced that there's a chance that they're going to find something.

"It's not only the cost and the disruption, it's also the impact on the people who knew Mary, her friends, her family, raising their hopes and, as in cases before when nothing is found, that can be worse than doing nothing at all."

Investigators are dismantling a fireplace and using geophysical survey equipment at the scene where a ground-penetrating radar detected "some anomaly" in the soil.

Prof Monckton-Smith said the radar results would not be conclusive and police would probably need to bring in more sensitive equipment in the coming days.

Police officers were seen earlier carrying what appeared to be a dishwasher and removing it from the premises.

Explainer by criminologist Jane Monckton-Smith

How does the radar process work?

There are so many things to consider, so it is not the simple process that people might think.

A ground penetrating radar will be used and will take something like an x-ray of the area.

The radar pictures will be available immediately but it will take longer for analysts to decipher them.

They will be looking for voids and anomalies that cannot be explained without the need to dig.

These will show on the images in a way that only an expert will be able to understand, similar to a doctor looking at an x-ray.

They then decide the percentage of possibility there is something significant there.

This information will be cross referenced with other corroborating information and anecdotal evidence police might have.

For example; whether police can place Fred West at the scene, at the time they think the crime was committed, with an opportunity to bury the body without being seen.

This will inform their decision whether or not to excavate.

Unfortunately, there are not going to be any definitive answers for the experts.

They will only know when they dig, and that excavation will be very disruptive so they will have to make a judgment call on their findings.

Fred West took his own life while awaiting trial for the murders of 12 people

On Friday, officers were called following suggestions a body might have been buried at the cafe on Southgate Street.

Mary is thought to have gone missing on her way to catch a bus to visit her then boyfriend Tim Merrett.

Mr Merrett said: "I really don't think anything will come of this. She left the cafe for the day, went home and changed before going to the bus stop to come and see me.

"Why would she be back at the cafe?"

Serial killer West, who was a builder and a regular at the cafe where May worked, was previously suspected over her disappearance.

Officers were seen removing what looked like a dishwasher from the premises on Friday