MURDERER ’ S £500 K BILL
Cost of hammer killer’s battle to win his freedom
HAMMER killer Michael Stone has racked up a legal aid bill of over £500,000.
The mammoth cost to taxpayers has mounted as he launched a succession of bids to clear his name of the murders of mum and daughter Lin and Megan Russell 25 years ago.
Stone’s £525,000 legal aid costs were revealed under freedom of information laws.
A source said: “It’s an astonishing figure. He flat-out refuses to accept his guilt.”
Stone, 60, is serving three life sentences for killing Lin, 45, sixyear-old Megan and their dog as they walked home along a secluded lane after a swimming gala in Chillenden, Kent.
He first protested his innocence in 2010 but the Criminal Cases Review Commission rejected his claim. An attempt to seek a judicial review also failed.
The commission said it had carried out a detailed investigation but was “not at this point minded to refer the case for appeal”.
Stone could be eligible for parole by July next year but his family says he has vowed to refuse early release until he is cleared.
Sister Barbara said: “He won’t apply for parole. He has fought since day one. He’s not going to give in now.”
Lin, a doctor, and her daughters were tied up and beaten with a hammer in 1996. Eldest girl Josie, nine, survived with appalling injuries and is now an artist.
Stone, who has a history of violence and drug abuse, was arrested a year later.
DNA at the scene did not match his but he was found guilty in 1998 on evidence from three other prisoners, including pal Damian Daley, who told police Stone had confessed while awaiting trial at Canterbury jail.
A retrial was held in 2001 after one of the three admitted fabricating his account but Stone was convicted again.
Stone is laying his hopes on a dossier of evidence his solicitors submitted in 2017.
They say they have a “very detailed” evidence serial killer Levi Bellfield confessed the murders to a fellow inmate.
Sex beast Bellfield, who is in the same prison as Stone, HMP Frankland, County Durham, attacked his victims – all women and girls – with a hammer but denies killing the Russells.
He is serving life for murdering Milly Dowler, 13, Marsha Mcdonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22, in South West London between 2002 and 2004.
Yesterday barrister Mark Mcdonald said: “I’ve represented Mr Stone for over 22 years and have never been paid a penny.
“I have read nearly every document that has been disclosed in this case and I’m in no doubt that Mr Stone is innocent.
“This matter needs to go before the Court of Appeal as soon as possible so no more public
money is spent.”