A new Netflix drama will portray how Rachel Nickell’s toddler son was taken out of Britain by his father to begin a secret life abroad away from his mother’s killer.

Miss Nickell, 23, was stabbed 49 times on Wimbledon Common in front of her two-year-old son Alex Hanscombe as they walked their dog Molly on July 15, 1992.

The model was also sexually assaulted by the attacker before he fled – and Alex was found by a passer-by next to his mother, repeatedly saying: ‘Wake up, Mummy.’

Now, an upcoming true crime drama called ‘The Witness’ will follow investigations into the murder from Alex’s point of view after he was the only witness to her death.

Miss Nickell’s partner Andre Hanscombe became a single parent overnight and the drama released on June 4 looks at the traumatic experiences of the father and son.

A newly-released trailer for the series today begins with Alex’s voiceover saying: ‘I went for a walk with my mother when I was a child, and she never made it home.’

A television news reporter is then heard saying: ‘The brutal murder of a young mother shattered the tranquillity of one of London’s most affluent suburbs.’

The series, which is spread across three hour-long episodes, will see the pair navigate the lengthy and bungled police investigation in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Jahsaiah Williams as Alex Hanscombe (left) and Jordan Bolger as André Hanscombe (right) in Netflix drama The Witness. Alex was the only witness to his mother Rachel Nickell’s murder

Jahsaiah Williams as Alex Hanscombe and Eleanor Williams as Rachell Nickell, in The Witness

The trailer also features an edited version of the Daily Mail’s front page from the day after

The original version of the Mail’s front page, headlined: ‘Murdered as her little boy watched’

Andre decided to move with Alex to a farmhouse in France for their safety as the killer remained at large, then moved to Spain when their address was discovered.

The drama features Jahsaiah Williams and Max Fincham as Alex, Jordan Bolger as Andre, Eleanor Williams as Miss Nickell and Kerry Godliman as June.

Other actors include James Bradshaw as DCI Tony Nash, James Dryden as DC Paul Miller, Kevin Eldon as DCI Mick Wickerson and Neil Maskell as DI Keith Pedder.

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

Rachel Nickell’s three-year-old son tells of moment he witnessed mother’s murder in Wimbledon

The series also features an re-enacted version of a previously-unseen home video. The real version features in an accompanying Netflix documentary, of Alex speaking to Andre about the horror.

The trailer also features an edited version of the Daily Mail’s front page from the day after the murder, headlined: ‘Murdered as her little boy watched.’

Alex and Andre said in a statement: ‘Our life has been a battle. We can never express how indebted we are to everyone that’s been a part of this, for the kindness and generosity they’ve extended to us, for the chance they took with us in bringing our story to the screen, and for the care they have taken.

‘Our journey has all been by the grace of God and a promise to go on together, and we feel incredibly blessed to be able to share our story in this way.

‘We hope that audiences will be left with a testament to the tough battle of life we all face and to the power of faith, hope, love – and never giving up.’

Yesterday, the Mail exclusively revealed an astonishing video of Alex aged three chatting to Andre about what he had witnessed. The footage will feature in new Netflix documentary ‘The Murder of Rachel Nickell’ which is also released on June 4.

Alex Hanscombe speaks to his father André Hanscombe about his mother Rachel Nickell’s murder in a previously-unseen home video which is included in a new Netflix documentary

A newly-released photograph of Rachel Nickell and André Hanscombe with their son Alex

Rachel Nickell and André Hanscombe are photographed following the birth of their son Alex

Alex Hanscombe is pictured now, 33 years since he witnessed the murder of his mother

André Hanscombe, pictured now, features in the new programme which comes out in June

The clip shows Alex and André sat at a table, with the boy dressed in a Thunderbirds outfit as he says: ‘Dadda, can you help me draw Mummy on this piece of paper?’

André then calmly says to his son: ‘Alex, look at me. When you saw the bad man, was he in front of me like I am, or was he on this side, or was he on that side?’

Alex says that the man was ‘in front of me’. Andre asks: ‘Did Mummy see him?’ Alex says: ‘I don’t think she did’ and then confirms that he saw the man first.

What became of Fred and Rose West’s children?

Hi, I’m Alex Matthews, Editor of The Crime Desk.

It was over 30 years ago that Fred and Rose West’s ‘house of horrors’ was found – but have you ever wondered what happened to their children? Some live in fear, others have happy lives. Sign up here to get our exclusive piece for free.

Alex says the man had a bag. Andre asks: ‘Did he open it, or was it already open?’ Alex says: ‘He opened it.’ Andre asks: ‘And what did he get out?’ Alex says: ‘A knife.’

Andre then asks his son: ‘What did he do to you?’ Alex is heard saying: ‘He knocked me over.’ Alex draws a picture on paper, and Andre asks: ‘What’s he sticking in her?’

Alex says: ‘A knife, there’s his knife.’ When Andre asks him ‘did you see it’, Alex replies: ‘Yeah, I saw the knife.’ The boy adds: ‘I saw it, yeah I saw it all.’

Speaking in the present day, André tells the programme: ‘My son witnessed his mother’s murder but nobody could have possibly known how long it was going to take to find the person who did this.’

Some 32 men were questioned following the murder and the original suspect Colin Stagg – a local man who walked his dog on the common – spent 13 months in custody, enduring more than a decade of speculation that he was the killer.

Stagg was freed by an Old Bailey judge in 1994 who criticised police for using a ‘honeytrap’ undercover policewoman to try to make him confess to the murder.

Mr Justice Ognall, who halted the trial, called it a ‘blatant attempt to incriminate a suspect by positive and deceptive conduct of the grossest kind’.

The case was reopened by Scotland Yard in 2002 using advanced DNA forensic techniques that had developed in the intervening years and identified convicted murderer Robert Napper as a suspect.

André Hanscombe holds son Alex as they visit the site of the murder at Wimbledon Common to try jog Alex’s memory about what happened given that he was the only witness

Rachel Nickell with her son Alex, who was the only witness to her murder on July 15, 1992

Rachel Nickell and her son Alex, who watched as she was stabbed while walking her dog

André Hanscombe, following the death of his partner Rachel Nickell in South West London

Alex and his mother Rachel Nickell, in an image released by Netflix for the new documentary

André Hanscombe speaks in a police appeal following the death of his partner Rachel Nickell

Napper pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in 2008 and was ordered to be detained indefinitely at Broadmoor Hospital.

At the same time, Stagg was awarded £706,000 compensation from the Home Office for the bungled probe, but revealed in 2017 that he had spent all the cash.

Alex, now in his mid-30s, has spoken in recent years about his ordeal – including to the Daily Mail in September 2021, when he said: ‘My strongest memory is of waving goodbye to my father at home.

‘Then it moves on to walking hand-in-hand with my mother on the common. I remember making our way into the trees, walking with our dog, Molly. I remember a stranger walking up towards us. I remember being grabbed and thrown around roughly.

‘And I remember my mother being grabbed and thrown around, collapsing on the floor beside me. And I remember the realisation of what happened.

‘I said: ‘Wake up, Mummy.’ And she didn’t respond. So I said again: ‘Wake up, Mummy,’ and she didn’t respond… I knew my mother was gone. She wasn’t coming back.’

The new documentary from Bafta-nominated director Lucy Bowden examines the police investigation with archive footage, first-hand accounts and forensic insights.

‘The Witness’ and ‘The Murder of Rachel Nickell’, both on Netflix from June 4