Justice for Babes in the Woods as ‘monster’ Russell Bishop is finally convicted

Babes in the Woods killer Russell Bishop has been described as an “evil monster” by the families of his two young victims as their 32-year fight for justice came to an end.

Bishop was 20 years old when he sexually assaulted and strangled nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway in a woodland den in Brighton.

While serving life for attempted murder, Bishop, now 52, was ordered to face a fresh trial under the double jeopardy law in light of a DNA breakthrough.

Tests on a sample from Karen’s left forearm also revealed a “one in a billion” DNA match to Bishop.

Bishop denied murder, claiming the evidence could have been contaminated.

But the jury rejected his defence and convicted him at the Old Bailey after just two and a half hours, on the anniversary of Bishop’s original acquittal.

Afterwards, Karen’s mother Michelle Hadaway said Bishop was an “evil monster”.

She said: “After 32 years of fighting, we finally have justice for Karen and Nicola.

“Time stood still for us in 1986. To us them beautiful girls will always be nine years old. They will never grow up.

“What people like Bishop inflict on the families of their victims is a living death.”

The Fellows family said: “The guilty verdict doesn’t bring Nicola and Karen back, but we know that other children are now safe from the hands of Russell Bishop.

“He is a monster. A predatory paedophile. Russell Bishop truly is evil personified.”

The case, dubbed Babes in the Woods murders, shocked the nation in 1986 and blighted the tight-knit community of Moulsecoomb, on the edges of the South Downs in Brighton.

It is believed to be the oldest double jeopardy case and Sussex Police’s longest-running murder inquiry.

Both were afraid of the dark and Nicola’s father had banned her from playing in Wild Park, even saying the “bogeyman” lived there, the court heard.

At around dusk on October 9 1986, Bishop spotted the girls playing in the park near their home and seized his opportunity, the prosecution said.

During the attack, he punched Nicola in the face, to “subdue” or “punish” her for being disrespectful to his teenage girlfriend earlier that day, Brian Altman QC suggested.

The prosecutor pointed out Bishop’s violent nature, saying he slapped his partner Jennie Johnson when she was pregnant with their second child.

The day after the killings, Bishop joined the desperate search for the children, claiming his dog Misty was a trained tracker.

He was nearby when two 18-year-olds spotted the bodies and rushed ahead of a police officer.

But he described details of the murder scene which only the killer could have known, including foam around the mouth of one of the girls.

In the original trial, the prosecution said the girls must have been killed before 6.30pm, by which time Bishop had been seen heading home on foot and the girls were spotted outside a fish and chip shop.

But in the retrial, jurors heard the time of death could have been later and Bishop simply doubled back to intercept the children, both of whom he knew.

Bishop tailored his defence to the new forensic evidence, claiming he touched the girls to feel for a pulse, even though the 18-year-olds insisted he never got near.

During the two-month trial Nicola’s father Mr Fellows, 69, had been reduced to tears over the claims against him.

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Fellows said facing the accusations in the witness box was the “worst thing that can ever happen to anyone”.

Bishop’s defence also cast doubt on the forensic evidence, suggesting it could have been contaminated.

In his 1987 trial, Ms Johnson denied the blue sweatshirt belonged to her partner in the witness box, having previous identified it.

In light of the guilty verdict, Sussex Police has refused to rule out investigating her for perjury 31 years later.

While Bishop refused to attend court for the verdict, mothers Mrs Hadaway, 61, and Susan Eismann, 69, sat through harrowing evidence for a second time.

Karen’s heartbroken father Lee Hadaway died without seeing his daughter’s killer brought to justice.

Adjourning sentencing until Tuesday, Mr Justice Sweeney paid tribute to the families’ “extraordinary diginity” throughout the trial.

Nigel Pilkington, of Crown Prosecution Service South East, said Bishop was an “extremely dangerous man” who had been convicted on “overwhelming and incontrovertible” evidence.

He said: “He is a violent predatory paedophile and he gets cross when you call him that. He also considers himself to be a victim in the sense of the 1990 conviction.”

He said Bishop had tried to blame Nicola’s father to create “the most havoc” possible, adding: “There is not a shred of evidence against Barrie Fellows, not realistically at all.”

Detective Superintendent Jeff Riley said Bishop was a “wicked” paedophile.

He said: “I still feel it’s a shadow over Brighton to this day. I’m very proud of the investigation we have put together. We have been meticulous.

“We have never given up on this investigation.”