Gildo Claps is angry because he claims Restivo had accomplices who helped him cover up his killing of his sister Elisa, enabling him to kill again, writes Paula Roberts.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo, Gildo said: “I have never given up because I love my sister.

“I have fought because I cannot accept injustice. I could not allow a killer to escape and the knowledge that one day we would get him as driven me to carry on.”

And of Restivo he added: “I hated him then and I still hate him.”

He said: “Elisa was the youngest in the family. Luciano was four years older than her and I was seven years older so we were always with her, looking out for her.

“And then the most awful thing happened seventeen years ago. We had a very strong feeling that something tragic had happened but, as always when a person goes missing, until you have proof that that person is dead you cannot accept it.

“It is very bad to think like that but from the very first moment we have always thought Restivo was involved in her disappearance.

“And to find out that we were right after 17 years is something which really makes you mad.

“Elisa is the last thing we think about before going to sleep and the first thing we think about in the morning.”

He said: “It seemed that Restivo was giving out a lot of signals to so many people that he had a lot of problems with his personality so he is not the only one who should be tried.

“There are so many people responsible and if these people hadn’t protected him in Italy we would have known the truth about Elisa sooner and Heather wouldn’t have died. Heather’s death is because he wasn’t stopped.”

Gildo added: “In Italy there were so many things that didn’t work. He had accomplices who covered up. The courts didn’t investigate Elisa’s disappearance properly.”

Speaking of his sister, Gildo said: “She was a very sweet girl, quite sensitive and may be she trusted people too much and this is something we always told her not to do.

“I wanted to stop Restivo harassing her but she didn’t want me to because she felt sympathy for him. He couldn’t find friends.”