RACHEL Nickell's partner told today how her son has developed into a well-adjusted adult despite witnessing his mother's savage murder when he was two.

Andre Hanscombe said of his son Alex, now 19: "What I take great comfort in is that his childhood can never be taken away from him now - it's now complete and it was against the odds.

"He was the tragic tot, his life was blighted - that was the script that had been written and we've managed to turn that script around completely. He's grown up in a very happy place, the kids are all smiles and laughter and very open, and he's always been one of the gang and nobody, virtually no one, in his immediate circle knew anything about what we've been through or what happened to us."

Mr Hanscombe and his son left London in 1993 and moved first to the south of France before moving to Spain in 1996. Mr Hanscombe, 45, returned to London yesterday to witness Robert Napper's admission to killing Ms Nickell.

Mr Hanscombe told how even up until 2004 when Met officers told him they had proof Napper killed his partner, he remained convinced Colin Stagg was guilty.

But he said the delay in finding the killer had helped Alex get over what he witnessed because as an adult he was in a better position to deal with it. He added: "Mistakes by the police cost Samantha Bisset and her daughter their lives. Now we have to accept the possibility that what happened to Rachel could have been avoided as well."

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