Taxi driver charged with murder of nightclubber in Swindon

London: Police said on Sunday they had charged a 47-year-old man with the murder of Sian O'Callaghan who went missing after leaving a nightclub in Swindon.

Christopher Halliwell, described by media as a taxi driver, was due to appear in court this morning, Wiltshire Police said.

The disappearance of 22-year-old O'Callaghan last weekend prompted a massive police hunt, backed up by hundreds of locals. Her body was found in Uffington, about 19.2km east of Swindon.

"At this stage there is no indication that Sian was sexually assaulted," police said on Saturday.

On Friday, police said Halliwell might have killed before, some years ago.

On Saturday, detectives investigating the murder found the remains of a second woman victim buried on remote farmland.

Forensic teams digging at Baxter's Farm near Eastleach, Gloucestershire, discovered bones from the limb of a woman acting on information from Halliwell.

Probing the ground

Officers in white, full-body forensic suits have been probing the ground on their hands and knees, while others used mechanical diggers to excavate two trenches. They have also removed part of a stone wall. The discovery was made on Saturday morning and police believe the body is of a young woman from Swindon who was abducted and killed between 2003 and 2005.

The woman's identity has yet to be revealed but detectives are confident they will be able to confirm her name using orthodontic records and DNA within 24 hours.

O'Callaghan's body was found near White Horse Hill, Uffington, Oxfordshire, but police believe she had been moved after her death from Savernake Forest, near Swindon, where her mobile transmitted its last signal.

Yesterday, Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher appealed for any witnesses who may have seen Halliwell in the woods at the time to come forward.

Second body

A police source said on Saturday: "The remains that were found this morning are of a second body. We believe that they are bones from an arm or a leg and we are confident that they are human remains.

"If we can obtain orthodontic records and DNA we hope to know the identity of this person within the next 48 hours."

Halliwell was arrested on Thursday in Swindon, where he lived with his girlfriend, twice-married Heather Widdowson, 53, who has apparently left the country.

Her brother, Peter Spanswick, 47, said: "She is in pieces and was barely even able to talk to me on the phone. She simply had no idea about any of this and would hate anyone to think she did."

Police say O Callaghan's boyfriend Kevin Reape, 25, her parents Elaine, 48, and Michael, 49, brother Liam, 24, and sister Lora, all from Swindon, remain too distressed to make a statement.