Barristers have begun closing arguments in the trial of convicted killer Levi Bellfield, after he refused to take the stand in his own defence yesterday.

He denies the kidnap and murder of Walton schoolgirl Milly Dowler, who disappeared near Walton station in 2002.

Today Bellfield, labelled cowardly for refusing to give evidence, wore the same grey sweater with yellow sleeves he wore during the jury's site visit to Walton station earlier in the trial.

He furrowed his brow and shook his head at points during the closing speech, in which prosecutor Brian Altman went through the case against him.

The jury heard reports of phone calls to friends thought to relate to a red Daewoo belonging to Bellfield that was reported stolen the day after Milly’s disappearance.

They also heard how much of Bellfield’s behaviour around the time of Milly’s disappearance echoed his behaviour years later, when he murdered Amelie Delagrange and Marsha McDonnell.

Mr Altman also claimed Bellfield’s then-girlfriend, Emma Mills, was an honest and credible witness, despite the defence’s suggestions otherwise, and that her evidence of walks in the woods in Yateley, where Milly’s body was discovered months after she disappeared.

He said: “She was asked ‘did you ever feel uneasy about leaving the children in the defendant’s care’. Any woman would be tempted to answer yes, but honestly and reasonably she answered no. Such is the measure of her as a person and as a witness of truth.

“He [Bellfield] can't bear to live with the idea you might accept what she was telling you was the truth. They walked dogs not in the very location but the very area it just so happens that the remains of that girl ended up at or around the time she was killed in March 2002.

“This from a man who has shown himself to be dishonest and someone whose past jury disbelieved him and who makes challenges through counsel rather than give any account through the witness box where he could be challenged.”

The trial continues.