STEELTOWN Murders viewers were reduced to in tears after a harrowing scene with the murder victim’s parents in the BBC drama.
Based on real events, Steeltown Murders followed how a detective finally caught Wales’ first serial killer after hunting him for 29 years.
The scene near the end of real life crime drama left viewers in tears as the detective broke the news to the parents, that two decades after her brutal killing, their daughter’s murderer has finally been found.
The heart-breaking scene saw the grieving father plunge forward, shouting his daughter Geraldine’s name while grabbing hold of the policeman’s arm and not letting go.
Taking to Twitter, one view said: “What these poor families went through.”
Another wrote: “An emotional end to #SteeltownMurders, a gripping series these past few weeks.”
A third penned: “For you Geraldine Hughes – I hope I did you justice. Such a heart-breaking story that needed to be told.”
A fourth tweeted: “Very emotional last 10 minutes, very respectful that this is a true story.
“I thought of the girls last Wednesday when driving past Port Talbot, and I’m sure a new generation will have them in their thoughts now.”
The scene is realistic as also it is exactly what happened when Denver and Jean Hughes discovered who the killer finally was.
Philip Glenister played Detective Inspector Paul Bethell in the BBC drama.
He revealed the real-life story of how a cold case investigation into the rapes and murders of three teenage girls in the Port Talbot area in the 1970s lead to their killer being found nearly 20 years later.
Former DI Bethell worked on the original case into the murders of Sandra Newton and friends Geraldine Hughes and Pauline Floyd, all aged 16, who were murdered while travelling home from nights out in 1973, but the identity of the perpetrator wasn’t confirmed until 2002.
Paul was able to expose the killer using DNA evidence that had come to light.
Talking about how the investigation was portrayed in the tv series, he said: “I am really pleased. They have really put an important focus on the girls and the impact their murders had on the families. It was always about putting things right.
“I covered a lot of cold cases during my career and the mantra was always not only about finding the killer, but also about finding out who didn’t do it.”
Steeltown Murders is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
