Killer puppet film sparks anger

Mrs Richardson said the family wants to get on with their lives

The mother of a victim of child killer Mary Bell has spoken out against a film which depicts the crimes using puppets.

Bell was 11 when she was convicted of the manslaughter of four-year-old Martin Brown and three-year-old Brian Howe, in Newcastle, in December 1968.

Film maker Tony Hickson has used puppets to show the killings, saying it is justified because it is a story in the public domain.

Martin Brown's mother June Richardson said it should not have been made.

Mrs Richardson said it was impossible for the family to get on with their lives when it was brought up all the time

Mary Bell was a child herself when she killed two young boys

She said: "You can't get on with your life when people keep poking their noses into something that happened years and years ago and bringing it back again."

But Mr Hickson said the film was showing real-life events.

He said: "The events that have happened... It's no good trying to forget things have happened.

"The past has happened and you can't change that. People can talk about things but I think somebody would have done it sooner or later."

He said that in his film he has substituted one of the victims for a girl to change it from the events that had happened.

Bell was found guilty of the manslaughter of the two children in the 1960s, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

She was released from custody in 1980 and in 2003, a judge granted her and her daughter lifelong anonymity.