Nightmare murderer of
THE father of one of the tragic “Babes in the Wood” victims has told how his nightmare is still not over despite seeing his daughter’s killer jailed 32 years on.
Barrie Fellows said sick allegations made by killer Russell Bishop tore his family apart after his nineyear-old daughter Nicola Fellows and her friend Karen Hadaway, of the same age, were murdered in Brighton on October 9, 1986.
Nicola’s father Mr Fellows, 71, has promised to pursue legal action against two of Bishop’s former girlfriends who gave evidence at his trial in 1987, when he was cleared, and his re-trial this week, when he was found guilty. He was given two life sentences with a minimum of 36 years’ jail.
Mr Fellows said: “He destroyed my family and I believe these women helped him.” The 71-yearold faced sickening claims in court in 1987 from Bishop’s former girlfriend Marion Stevenson, who was a witness for his defence.
She alleged that she had seen Mr Fellows watching a pornographic video involving his own daughter and a lodger.
The claims were published in a newspaper, which later apologised to Mr Fellows after police found no evidence and dropped the case.
The father was horrified when Ms Stevenson repeated the claims in the re-trial. She was again a defence witness for Bishop.
A second former girlfriend of Bishop, Jenny Johnson, gave evidence in the first trial about a blue sweatshirt which proved crucial to the investigation.
She originally told police the sweatshirt found discarded near the crime scene did belong to Bishop, before changing her story in court to claim that it was not his. The case against Bishop fell apart.
DNA tests on Karen’s arm and clothing, which were not available in the first trial, made billion-toone matches with Bishop.
The girls went missing from their home in Brighton after going out to play in 1986.
They were strangled and sexually assaulted before their bodies were found in a nearby secluded woods the next day.
Bishop, who had joined volunteers searching for the girls, claimed he was “sickened” when he first saw the victims’ bodies in the woods after they were found.
He was later charged with their murders but cleared at Lewes Crown Court. Within three years, Bishop was convicted of abducting, sexually assaulting and trying to kill a seven-year-old girl at Devils Dyke on the South Downs, the Old Bailey has heard. He was jailed for life with a minimum of 14 years, but refused to admit his guilt.
Double jeopardy laws prevented him from being tried twice for Nicole and Karen’s murder, until the law was scrapped in 2005. However, the family faced a further 13-year wait until new evidence and advanced DNA testing tied him to the scene.
Heartbroken Mr Fellows spoke of when he was told the missing girls’ bodies had been found and said it was the moment his world was torn apart.
After excited yells signalled they had been found, they turned to horror as another volunteer said: “I’m afraid they’re dead.”
Mr Fellows said: “That’s when I lost it big time. I swung without thinking at the nearest copper and went completely off my head.
“Everyone jumped on me, but I was like a madman. It took a lot of them to pin me down.
“It was like one of my worst epileptic fits. I was still sobbing and screaming and it took a while to calm down. When I did I told the
‘Nicky’s murder cast a shadow over my family’