Rachel Nickell's son and partner relive brutal 1992 murder for new drama

More than 30 years after a young woman, Rachel Nickell, was murdered while walking with her two-year-old son on Wimbledon Common in south London, her family are telling their story of what happened through a new drama series and documentary.

In July 1992, 23-year-old Rachel was stabbed 49 times while out walking with the family dog, Molly.

Her two-year-old son Alex was found clutched to her body, the only witness to what had happened.

For Alex, now aged 36, and his father André Hanscombe, revisiting that day has one purpose: to share what they experienced and to spark a wider conversation about the aftermath of the tragedy.

Alex described taking part in the documentary and drama as "sharing his testimony" in relation to how he felt about the initial investigation.

Meanwhile, André described some of the scenes between himself and the young Alex as "brutal", as he tried to extract details from his two-year-old son's memory, but even now he says: "I don't think I would have done anything different."

Alex added they had "no regrets about that at all" because it meant police had an almost picture-perfect description of the attacker.

André said: "The truth was that Alex was the only one who was there. He was attacked as well. He was the only one who knew what had happened.

"The police told us from day one they were in a terrible position - they didn't have anything. They didn't have anything. They were given no cards to play and Alex had the whole scene in his head."

He said he believed it would have been important to Rachel that "we do everything we could to make sure this didn't happen to anyone else", even if it inadvertently affected Alex's recovery as he relived the trauma of that moment.

Alex said: "There is a cost for everything. That was the dilemma that my father faced, protecting me and my emotional wellbeing and at the same time doing everything we could to stop that from happening to others."

Following the attack, André and Alex were hounded by the press and subjected to racial abuse, eventually leaving the UK for France and then Spain in an attempt to escape the attention.

The programmes also trace the strain on their relationship as Alex grew into his teenage years.

André said it was "important to express this honestly", to show that the impact of such events does not end and there are lasting consequences.

"Once again it's our motivation for being involved in this project, is to help those who find themselves in an equally impossible position today," he said.

"I've been warned very early on that no matter how delightful a six or seven or eight-year-old could be, that by the time we got to teenage years, this is something that could come back and bite us."

The pair said they felt the investigation into Rachel's murder was deeply flawed.

Police wrongly accused a local man, Colin Stagg, who was later cleared, and the real killer, Robert Napper, was not identified for another 12 years. He was already serving a sentence in prison for a double murder.

Napper is estimated to have attacked and sexually assaulted as many as 90 women before he was caught, despite repeated reports about his behaviour.

Alex and André said someone from the Crown Prosecution Service had leaked a letter to them which revealed a series of failings, meaning opportunities were missed to stop Napper earlier.

"The police have never acknowledged the extent of their failings and the harm that they've caused in repercussions, not only on us as a family, for all these 90 women," Alex said.

André described their involvement in the programmes as "more than us supplying the answers, it's about us provoking a conversation" about how the investigation was handled.

In the years since, both have turned to Catholicism, which they say has helped them come to terms with the loss of Rachel.

Despite the strain and the difficulties they faced, they say their relationship as father and son has endured and, over time, found a way forward.

"We always had love, and we always had hope as a way through, and over time we found faith as well," said André.

"It's really important that people who do find themselves in difficult positions know there is a way through."

He said Rachel's presence was still felt in their daily lives.

"When I look at Alex I see his mother. She was all heart, she had an incredible head and shoulders as well, and I see those qualities in him so it's an absolute blessing to have him."

For Alex, that bond has been shaped by everything they have been through together.

He said: "The true demonstration of love for us really is what someone is willing to suffer for you, and my mother suffered to protect me and my father has carried his cross as well to protect me.

"I really appreciate that. He knows how much I appreciate that."

André said the teams behind the project had treated it as a "labour of love" and thanked everyone involved.

Alex told the BBC: "Our intention has always been the same. We've been sharing some of the difficulties that we've lived through, and if we can touch one person and make a difference just to one person, that makes it all worthwhile for us."

The three-part drama on her death and the events that followed, The Witness, was released on Netflix on Thursday alongside a documentary, The Murder of Rachel Nickell.

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