The mum of missing Ben Needham says a secret trip to Kos has left her convinced the police theory her son died in a horror digger accident was ‘impossible’.
Speaking on the 35th anniversary of her son’s disappearance, Kerry Needham, revealed how she returned to the farmhouse where he went missing with her mum Christine and little brother Danny. Kerry, 54, said that while looking around the property was ‘stomach churning,’ it left her more convinced than ever that Ben was abducted.
Her son vanished on July 24, 1991, from the Greek island of Kos after playing with his toys outside a farmhouse his grandfather was helping to renovate. South Yorkshire Police have carried out two searches of the area fearing he was killed in a horror digger accident but no evidence has ever been found to back up their theory.
Kerry said: “It doesn’t make sense that he was killed in a digger accident behind the farmhouse. He would have to walk from the farmhouse in 90 degree heat, around the tree, through the bracken and he had sandals on.
“He used to stop and freeze if he walked into grass and say ‘I stuck’. You had to pick him up and bring him back. He would not have gone into the prickly grass; it would have hurt his feet. I just don’t get it.
“Then the digger would have had to leave the site and come back without leaving a shred of evidence. Not a shred. They went over that ground forensically. It’s impossible in my view.
“Yes they did find a toy car, which looked like one of the toys Ben and there was decomposed blood in the soil inside that toy car, but that blood was not a match for Ben’s DNA.
“Somebody did bleed into the soil around the farmhouse but it was not Ben, it was somebody else, which is weird in itself.”
Police believe digger driver Konstantinos Barkas was behind the accident. He died in 2015 aged 62.
His widow has previously insisted he had nothing to do with Ben’s disappearance and had only ever mentioned seeing a car that day. It has been claimed a strange car was seen that day, parked up along the isolated road which runs alongside the farmhouse.
Now she is urging the Government and the new Prime Minister to step in. She wants to go with officers to meet the Greek prosecutor and wants British officers to be given the authority to speak to witnesses, including retired police officers. “I am not asking for the world, I am just asking for help,” she told The Mirror.
Kerry revealed how she recently met the Minister for Europe, Stephen Doughty. It is only the second time in more than three decades she has met a Government minister.
“I do not feel the British Government has supported me in 35 years and now it looks like they finally are,” she told The Mirror. “I hope the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham will meet me or at least have a telephone conversation with me, so he can be brought up to speed.
“He looks like he could be a compassionate man and maybe he might be the first PM in 35 years to help me because I have written to every one since 1991.
“My feelings have been hurt for the last 35 years so I won’t sit back any longer. I have already lost the most important thing in my world.”
Kerry made the trip to Greece for a documentary which will air on Disney Plus on July 30th called ‘Ben Needham: Lost in Paradise’. She hopes it will help spread the word about Ben to America, where she fears he could have been trafficked for the adoption market.
Talking about her trip in December, she said: “The fear of the island vanished once I arrived. Even going on the ferry when I’m normally shaking and having panic attacks, I was absolutely fine. I had a security blanket around me because my brother Danny was with me.
“I did get upset at the farmhouse, it made me feel sick and my stomach was churning. I was looking up at the sky asking; ‘Where are you? What happened to you? I was asking Ben to speak to me and give me a clue, or a sign. ‘Tell me what happened to you’, it was a really weird feeling.”
Kerry says she is now feeling “more positive” after meeting with a Government minister after the Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard stepped in.
“The last couple of months things have been feeling like I am being listened to. I don’t want to build up my hopes too much but I feel the mayor is investing a lot of time into the case.”
The mayor stepped in after Kerry was told the British police were leaving the investigation to the Greek authorities, which they apologised for later and promised they had not stepped aside.
Kerry, made an appeal during her trip and said: “We wanted to come back to Kos to show whoever is hiding this secret, we are not going away. We are still going to keep coming back here. We will still keep turning up until we discover the truth about what happened to Ben.
“We are appealing to the younger generation if they know anyone or have heard rumours in and around the island for them to come forward. It’s been 35 years this year and it’s about time we know the answers because somebody on this island does know.”
Speaking to the Mirror, she said: “I feel a lot stronger. I cope because something has to be done and I have to do it. I was a very young mother when Ben disappeared and if the people who are involved think I am going to go away because it’s 35 years they need to think again.
“It does take its toll on my health and emotional state of mind but I will keep coming back until I find those answers. ”
South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard said: “For 35 years, Kerry Needham and her family have lived with heartbreak and uncertainty that no family should ever have to endure.
“Ben’s disappearance left questions that remain unanswered, and Kerry has shown extraordinary determination in her search for those answers.
“I’m pleased that after so many years, Kerry finally had the chance to press her case directly with government ministers. I welcome the commitments that have been made, and I’ll keep working alongside her to make sure they are followed through.
“The Needham family deserve answers, and I’ll continue supporting Kerry however I can for as long as she needs me to.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with the family of Ben Needham on the anniversary of his disappearance.
“Minister Stephen Doughty met with Ben Needham’s mother, Kerry Needham, on 16 July.”
