THE mother of Sian O’Callaghan said she never lost faith that Wiltshire Police would secure a conviction for the murder of Becky Godden.

Elaine Pickford, who lives in Old Town, with Sian’s siblings Aiden and Lora, was in court as Halliwell was convicted of Becky’s murder.

“For me it was always when, not if. I never lost faith that this day would come. The police were so dedicated and focused on what they needed to do,” Elaine said.

“I felt that it must have been incredibly difficult for Rebecca’s family as we stood outside court.

“But I feel like everybody involved in Sian’s case wanted a result and was determined to get it.

“This was looming over us. Now we feel we can remember Sian for the person she was, rather than how she died. There was so much more to Sian than that.

“This is more for Becky’s family, at least it has come to an end now and he has been convicted. I never had any doubt he would be.”

“Myself and Sian’s dad Mick were made aware very early on of Becky. I was quite shocked at first that straight away that it wasn’t just Sian, that’s the first time I heard of Becky.

“This has been looming for a while now . The loss of Sian, there’s never any end, the only thing that brings us closure is the one thing we can’t have back.”

And Elaine says the conviction will enable the family to focus on paying tribute to ‘bright beautiful’ Sian’s life.

“We want to remember Sian as a person. She was a magnet, she was bubbly, warm, had an amazing character, and because she was so happy people wanted to be around her,” she said.

“Sian had so many friends and we saw that when she went missing and at her funeral, people lined the streets.”

The four-week trial saw Elaine once again sitting across from the man who took her daughter’s life, and it brought back painful memories.

“It’s very surreal, dropping my son at school and then going to crown court again to see the man who killed my daughter,” Elaine said.

“I’m very detached in court, it’s something I don’t have control of, it’s like I put all my emotions into a box.

“A lot of the time we’re just getting on with our lives, with this coming up we opened that box.

“Sometimes the lid wobbles. I have my quieter days “I don’t feel anything when I look at him because it’s so far removed from what Sian was.”

More than five years on, Sian is very much at the heart of her family. On her brother Liam’s 30th birthday, the family, toasted her with champagne.

Elaine said she would be eternally thankful for the community which rallied round the family in the wake of Sian’s disappearance.

“I couldn’t really believe the public reaction. The public, the community, they all took Sian to their hearts, she was the girl next door. I am so thankful and grateful to everyone that supported us,” she said.

“I am so proud of all of my children. One night when I was crying Aiden just got in with me and hugged me and I just thought as a 10-year-old you shouldn’t have to comfort me but he was there for me, he was so strong, as were all my children.”

Elaine now plans to work with victim support to help others affected by violent crimes and with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Part of the work will be campaigning for enhanced criminal background checks for taxi drivers.