'Inaccuracies' in TV road rage drama
00:00, 16 April 2003
THE parents of Kent road rage murder victim Stephen Cameron have criticised an ITV factual drama based on their son's brutal death.
The TV dramatisation followed the horror experienced by Stephen's fiancee, Danielle Cable, as she witnessed him being stabbed to death on an M25 slip road and the police's determined two-year search to track down Britain's most notorious criminal Kenneth Noye.
The two-hour programme re-enacted the cold-blooded killing on the Swanley turn off and 17-year-old Danielle's brave part in the killer's conviction. But Stephen's parents Toni and Ken Cameron say they were not approached by the production company to tell their side of the story.
Danielle Cable: Eyewitness was shown on ITV last night and co-starred EastEnders' Lindsey Coulsen and Bill Paterson.
Mr Cameron said: "We have seen it and there were loads of inaccuracies. In principle, I think it's a story that needed to be told but Toni came across as hysterical, as a wimp, but she is a very strong person.
"We had no input whatsoever and we would have like to have been contacted. At the end of the day it was our son and Danielle lived with us for a long time."
Mr and Mrs Cameron have given their blessing to Danielle's new life which has been a closely-guarded secret since Noye's life sentence in 2000. She now lives under an assumed name but stays in touch with the Camerons.
Mr Cameron said: "We write to her and she is a very strong person. She has got on with her life. She is married and she has a baby girl."
The Camerons lived in Swanley village at the time of the murder but have since moved to Norfolk. Mr Cameron stressed: "The story should have been told a couple of years ago. It's now seven years down the line. Stephen was our son and we will always love him but it would be nice if we could all get on with our lives."
Danielle came out of hiding to help Granada TV produce the factual drama. She was played by former Coronation Street actress Joanne Froggatt. In a brief statement, Danielle said: "The film brings to an end a difficult time in my life."
Kenneth Noye, a violent criminal with a horrific reputation who once lived near the Brands Hatch track near West Kingsdown, managed to evade capture for two years. Eventually officers from Kent police tracked him down in Spain but to get a warrant for his arrest they needed someone who had witnessed the murder.
Danielle was the only one who could identify the attacker and, in 1998, she was flown out to Spain. In a terrifying ordeal she was asked to identify Noye as he ate dinner with friends in a busy restaurant.
Fearing for her life, the teenager was forced to assume a new identity and join the Witness Protection Scheme. Five years on Danielle is still too scared to go back to her old life with family and friends.
The screening of the ITV programme coincided with the three-year anniversary of Kenneth Noye's conviction on April 14, 2000.