THE Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire has apologised for the way her force handled the early stages of the Fred Moss murder case. Residents and councillors were outraged in 2004 when the police failed to intervene after members of Mr Moss' family, searchi

THE Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire has apologised for the way her force handled the early stages of the Fred Moss murder case. Residents and councillors were outraged in 2004 when the police failed to intervene after members of Mr Moss' family, searching for the missing man, descended on villages including Thriplow and Steeple Morden. Chief Constable Julie Spence apologised to members of South Cambridgeshire District Counci. She said: "We got it wrong. You have my apologies for that. The investigation was good, but the early stages were not." Cllr David Wherrell raised his concerns about the investigation during a presentation by Mrs Spence at a full council meeting. Cllr Wherrell said: "Mrs Spence mentioned the Fred Moss case during the presentation as an example of a case last year that they felt they had dealt with satisfactory, and without outside help. "I said that as far as members of this council and members of South Cambridgeshire were concerned, they didn't handle the case very well. Yes, they got a conviction, but the way in which they treated it at first was not satisfactory. "I felt that a lot of members had had problems in their wards and I didn't want it to go unnoticed." Hundreds of travellers flocked to the villages following the disappearance of 21-year-old Fred Moss. Residents were outraged when they searched public and private land for Fred's body, who had gone missing after leaving his aunt's home in Stansted on November 30. Pest control expert Christopher Nudds, 27, of Stocking Pelham, was convicted last month of his murder and jailed for life. He was ordered to spend at least 30 years in prison.