EXCLUSIVE: Private investigator says Ben Needham digger theory 'doesn't stack up'

A private investigator who's spent years working on the disappearance of Sheffield toddler Ben Needham says the latest theory can't be true.

Published 16th Sep 2016

A private detective who's spent years working voluntarily on the disappearance of Sheffield toddler Ben Needham has exclusively told Hallam the latest theory on what happened to him 'doesn't stack up'.

It was reported on Friday that the toddler, who went missing on the Greek Island of Kos, could have been crushed by a digger 25 years ago.

But doubt is being cast on that theory by a man who has devoted years of his life to investigating the disappearance.

Ian Crosby says it doesn't account for two items which went missing along with Ben:

"Ben wet his shorts - his grandmother washed the shorts out and hung them on a tree. Ben was left to play with a couple of toy cars.

"The shorts and the two cars disappeared at the same time that Ben disappeared. If it was the case that Ben had simply wandered off down the lane of his own accord and got involved in some terrible accident, then those shorts would still be on hanging on the tree and his cars would be found there as well."

This comes after Ben's mum Kerry told the Sunday Mirror that a friend of a digger driver said he believes the workman may have been responsible.

The digger - Konstantinos Barkas - reportedly died of stomach cancer last year. His widow said yesterday he was a 'good man' who had nothing to do with the disappearance.

Ian says he doubts that version of events is actually what happened:

"If you were to believe the story, you'd then have to try to explain how the toy cars and the shorts disappeared on the same day that this accident occurred.

"It doesn't stack up at all - I think it'll just turn out to be a waste of police time, money and resources and bring more heartache for the family. The toys and the shorts, I believe, will hold the key to what happened to ben and who removed him from the property.

"Somebody must know what happened to Ben Needham. I think unfortunately the angles that the police are taking have not been the right angles. They need to pay more attention, in my view, to these missing articles which must be linked to Ben's disappearance."

South Yorkshire Police say they're sending officers to Kos to start digging at two sites near where Ben was last seen - but they're keeping an "open mind" on the case.