A convicted paedophile has been found guilty of the “babes in the wood” murders at the end of a retrial that drew on scientific advances in forensics 32 years after two schoolgirls were killed.

Russell Bishop had been accused of sexually assaulting and strangling Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in October 1986 in woods about half a mile from Moulsecoomb, the area of Brighton where both girls lived.

The guilty verdicts were described as marking the end of a 32-year fight for justice for the girls’ families, who hugged each other and wept in court on Monday as the jury delivered its verdict.

“Time stood still for us in 1986. To us them beautiful girls will always be nine years old. They will never grow up,” said Michelle Hadaway, Karen’s mother, who described Bishop as an “evil monster”. “What people like Bishop inflict on the families of their victims is a living death,” she added.

Lee Hadaway, Karen’s father, died in 1998.

In a joint statement, 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.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Russell Bishop. Photograph: Sussex police/PA

After demonstrating that there was new and compelling evidence against Bishop in the form of scientific material, the prosecution had shown the jury how he attempted to conceal his crimes through lies, said the Crown Prosecution Service.

This included DNA evidence which provided what the CPS described as a “one-in-a-billion” DNA match linking Bishop to a sweatshirt which was at the scene of the murders.

The case had never been closed and had become the largest and longest-running inquiry in the history of Sussex police. A retrial was made possible after Bishop’s 1987 acquittal on the same charges was quashed at the court of appealin light of new evidence.

Bishop, who was not present to hear he was being convicted on the 31st anniversary of his original acquittal, will be required to appear when he is sentenced on Tuesday after the eight-week trial.

It also emerged on Monday that Bishop’s former partner could face a perjury investigation over her conduct at his murder trial at Lewes crown court in 1987. Jennifer Johnson had initially identified the sweatshirt which was found discarded along Bishop’s route home in Brighton as belonging to him, but then denied it in court.



She was not called by the prosecution in the second trial but another of Bishop’s former partners said he had been violent towards Johnson.

Nigel Pilkington, a CPS lawyer, suggested the result of the 1987 trial could have been “wholly different” if Johnson had not changed her story.

“Obviously if somebody has not told the truth in a case which has been a miscarriage of justice for 32 years, that’s a serious matter, if it turns out to be so. But we will wait to see if police make a decision to investigate,” he added.

Both Karen and Nicola had been afraid of the dark and the latter’s father had banned her from playing in an area known as Wild Park, even saying the “bogeyman” lived there, the court was told.

However, Bishop spotted the two nine-year-olds playing in the park near their home at around dusk on 9 October 1986 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, suggested Brian Altman QC.

The court heard that as well as the DNA evidence, fibre transfers linked the sweatshirt to the girls, the murder scene and Bishop’s home. Dried red paint on the sleeve was matched to a flake on Nicola’s neck and Karen’s T-shirt, providing “very strong support” they had recent contact with the garment.

There were also hundreds of ivy hairs on the sweatshirt like those at the scene of the murders. As well as the evidence from the sweatshirt, a DNA match to Bishop was found on Karen’s left forearm, jurors heard.

Bishop had returned to live in the Brighton area after his acquittal, but less than three years later, in February 1990, committed offences involving the attempted murder, kidnapping and indecent assault of a seven-year-old girl in the Whitehawk area of the city.

She survived and identified Bishop as her attacker, the jury was told. This, together with other evidence, led to his conviction for that crime in December 1990.

During the trial this year, Bishop tailored his defence to the new evidence and claimed he had touched the girls to feel for a pulse on the day after the killings, when he had joined the search for them and was nearby when they were found. However, two teenagers who had spotted the bodies insisted that he could not have come close.

Acting on instructions, Bishop’s defence team had also cast suspicion on Nicola’s father, Barrie Fellows, suggesting that police spent decades investigating the wrong man. The 69-year-old was reduced to tears during the trial by the claims against him.

The defence team also cast doubt on the new evidence, suggesting it could have been contaminated.

Det Supt Jeff Riley described Bishop as 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.”</s>A man cleared of killing two schoolgirls more than 30 years ago has been found guilty of their murders following a second trial.

Russell Bishop was acquitted of the murders of Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in 1987 - 31 years to the day today - in a case referred to as 'the Babes in the Wood'.

Cleared of their murders, Bishop went on to attack a seven-year-old girl within three years, leaving her for dead in 1990, but she survived.

A second trial regarding the two schoolgirls was ordered in light of new forensic evidence which linked Bishop, 52, to the deaths in 1986.

Bishop denied murdering the pair, who were both afraid of the dark, but was today found guilty at the Old Bailey following a trial which began on October 15.

Jurors deliberated for just two and a half hours.

In his closing speech, prosecutor Brian Altman QC Altman told jurors: "This defendant walked those two girls to their deaths.

"We ask you to put right a 32-year-old injustice by returning verdicts of guilty."

Nicola and Karen were sexually assaulted and strangled in a woodland den in Wild Park, Brighton, in October 1986.

The Babes in the Wood moniker, inspired by the popular fairytale and pantomime, was coined by the Press to describe how nine-year-olds Nicola and Karen were found huddled together in a woodland den.

It emerged in the retrial that the 18-year-olds who found the girls never actually saw the bodies and made up the description, partly to provide comfort to their families.

Within three years of their deaths, Bishop was jailed for life for the kidnap, sexual assault and attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl at Devils Dyke on the South Downs.

Mr Altman highlighted similarities between the two cases, while defence barrister Joel Bennathan QC asserted there were also differences.

On the 1990 attack, Mr Bennathan said: "They are awful offences, and anyone coming to this who did not have the benefit of Your Lordship's directions would probably think you don't come back from that.

"You don't do what happened to that little girl in 1990 and pop up in a trial and expect a fair trial.

"Once you know what happened in 1990 that will do, that's enough, don't worry about the rest.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we say no."

Lorna Heffron, the families’ spokeswoman, said: “Nicola and Karen. Our beautiful girls. We will never forget their smiles that would light up a room. Their laughter. Their cheekiness.

“During the past eight weeks, we have endured re-living the horrific details of their murders and we have learned an awful lot about the true meaning of heartbreak all over again.

“We stand here as two families united in our grief. United in our fight for justice. And now united in our elation at today’s guilty verdict. We are extremely relieved and grateful that our 32 years hard fought battle has been a success, finally getting the rightful long-awaited justice for both of our girls.

“We want to thank our police teams and counsel, who have been fantastic during the past couple of decades. If it wasn’t for their efforts and dedication working with us, we wouldn’t be stood here today.

"Together we have changed history with this ‘double jeopardy’ ruling and we finally have the correct outcome – Russell Bishop remains behind bars where he belongs.

“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.”

Mr Bennathan suggested Bishop had cut short his evidence in the trial because he was "wound up" by the prosecutor.

He said: "The 1990 offences are an entirely proper area of questioning but it is also blindingly obvious from the word go it was winding Mr Bishop up."

Likewise, asking Bishop about "deeply personal" love letters to a 13-year-old girl while he was in jail awaiting trial in 1987 was also winding him up, the barrister asserted.

Bishop chose not to attend court to hear the closing speeches in the trial.

Nigel Pilkington, Senior District Crown Prosecutor in CPS South East, said: “Today’s guilty verdicts mark the end of a 32-year fight for justice for the families of Karen and Nicola.

“In order to bring Russell Bishop to justice, the CPS demonstrated to the Court of Appeal there was new and compelling evidence against him in the form of forensic material.

“The prosecution then showed the jury how Bishop attempted to conceal his crimes through his lies and, crucially, modern forensic science.

"This included DNA evidence which provided a one-in-a-billion DNA match to a sweatshirt Bishop was wearing and which was at the scene of the murders.

“Our thoughts today are with Karen and Nicola’s families, who have shown remarkable resilience throughout this ordeal over the last 32 years.”

In 2003, Parliament changed the law to allow acquitted defendants to face trial again if there was "new and compelling evidence".</s>The “babes in the wood” killer, Russell Bishop, has been jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 36 years for the murder or two schoolgirls more than three decades ago.

Bishop, now 52, sexually assaulted and strangled Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in October 1986, when they were nine, in woods about half a mile from Moulsecoomb, the area of Brighton where the girls lived.

Sentencing him at the Old Bailey, in London, on Tuesday, Mr Justice Sweeney said: “I have no doubt that you were a predatory paedophile. The terror that each girl must have suffered in their final moments is unimaginable.”

The breakthrough in the longest running case in the history of Sussex police came when scientific advances led to DNA evidence providing what the Crown Prosecution Service described as a “one-in-a-billion” match linking Bishop, a convicted paedophile, to a sweatshirt found at the scene of the murders.

Bishop had been found not guilty in 1987 but after the new evidence emerged the acquittal was quashed, paving the way for a retrial. On Monday, after an eight-week trial, Bishop was convicted, ending the families’ 32-year fight for justice.

Bishop returned to live in the Brighton area after his acquittal, but less than three years later, in February 1990, he committed offences involving the attempted murder, kidnapping and indecent assault of a seven-year-old girl in the Whitehawk area of the city. After she identified Bishop as her attacker, he was convicted in December 1990.

The court heard that fibre transfers linked Bishop’s sweatshirt to Karen and Nicola, the murder scene and his home. The court heard that he punched Nicola in the face to “subdue” or “punish” her for being disrespectful to his teenage girlfriend earlier that day.

Bishop tried to explain the forensic evidence by claiming he had touched the girls to feel for a pulse on the day after the killings, when he had joined the search for them and was nearby when they were found. However, two teenagers who had spotted the bodies insisted he could not have been that close to them.

Bishop’s defence team, under his instructions, also cast suspicion on Nicola’s father, Barrie, reducing the 69-year-old to tears.

In a victim impact statement, Karen’s mother, Michelle, described Bishop as an “evil monster” and said having to go through a second trial was “traumatic and heartbreaking”.

Sue Eismann, Nicola’s mother, said the death of her daughter had turned her world upside down and spoke of her “sheer hate” for Bishop.</s>Bishop denied murder, claiming the evidence could have been contaminated.

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

A sweatshirt discarded on Bishop’s route home was linked to the defendant by DNA, while fibre, paint and traces of ivy placed it at the murder scene in Wild Park.

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. His fresh conviction will see him serve a minimum of 36 years for the two murders.

Bishop was 20 years old when he sexually assaulted and strangled the girls in a woodland den in Brighton. He was cleared of their murders in 1987 but within three years went on to kidnap, molest and strangle a seven-year-old girl.

PA Ready News UK Nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway were found dead in a woodland den in Brighton in 1986

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.

Bishop refused to attend court for his sentencing at the Old Bailey.

Sentencing, Mr Justice Sweeney said: “I have no doubt that you were a predatory paedophile.

“The terror that each girl must have suffered in their final moments is unimaginable.”

Members of the girls’ families wept and hugged each other after the verdict.

Karen’s mother Michelle Hadaway said Bishop was an “evil monster”. In a victim impact statement, she said: “Finally justice has been done and Bishop has been seen as the evil monster he really is.

“On October 15 this year he was tried for the second time. That trial has lasted for a couple of months and has finally led to conviction. This is the result we should have had 31 years ago. Having to go through a second trial has been traumatic and heartbreaking for me and my family.”

Sue Eismann, Nicola’s mother, told how her world “turned upside down” after the death of her daughter.

On her feelings about Bishop, she said: “I have lived with the pain, the loss and sheer hate towards him for what he had done for the last 32 years.

“Russell Bishop is a horrible, wicked man. No child is safe if he is allowed to be free.”

Barrie Fellows said the loss of Nicola destroyed his relationship with his wife, saying it “tore us apart”.

On the false accusations he has faced over the murders, he said: “Thirty-two years is a long time to be suspected of murdering your daughter. When they arrested and charged Russell Bishop I thought that would be the end and we would get some closure. It did not pan out like that.

“Since the trial began I have been through every feeling imaginable from hope to sheer dread.

“Words cannot describe how I feel about Russell Bishop and the effect it has had on people’s lives.”

Members of the girls’ families were embraced by jurors who had all turned up to see Bishop sentenced in his absence.

Afterwards, Detective Superintendent Jeff Riley, of Sussex Police, said: “Russell Bishop is a truly wicked man and the life sentence with a minimum term of 36 years reflects the true magnitude of the terrible crimes against these two young girls.

“Bishop will hopefully spend the remainder of his life behind bars where he truly belongs and never darken the streets of Brighton again.

“This significant term of imprisonment will of course never make up for the loss of Karen and Nicola but I hope their families will take some comfort from it.”

- 1984: Russell Bishop is arrested for the Grand Hotel bombing but later found not to be connected. - October 9 1986: Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway go missing while out playing in Wild Park, Brighton, after school. Bishop is seen in the area shortly before. - October 10 1986: Bishop and his dog Misty join the search which ends when two 18-year-olds find their bodies in a woodland den. - October 31 1986: Bishop, who had already been spoken to by police, is formally arrested and interviewed under caution. - December 3 1986: He is remanded in custody after being charged with the murders. - December 7 1987: Bishop’s 16-year-old girlfriend Marion Stevenson first is plied with champagne and interviewed by the News of the World (NotW) at a hotel. - December 10 1987: Bishop is acquitted of the murders. - December 13 1987: NotW publishes a story in which Stevenson claims she saw a video of Nicola in bed with a man and that Bishop’s home had been bugged. - 1988: Stevenson first alleges to police that Nicola’s father Barrie Fellows watched a video of his daughter being abused by the lodger Dougie Judd. - February 4 1990: Bishop abducts a seven-year-old girl and sexually assaults and throttles her, leaving her for dead at Devil’s Dyke. - December 13 1990: Bishop is convicted of her attempted murder and sentenced to life. - December 20 1993: The Pinto sweatshirt is taken to Aldermaston to be examined by forensic scientists. DNA testing at this stage is unsuccessful. - February 1994: Bishop serves an unsuccessful writ against Sussex Police and gives evidence at the High Court. - 1998: Karen’s father Lee Hadaway dies without seeing his daughter’s killer brought to justice. - July 23 2002: The Pinto is submitted to the Forensic Science Service to examine a bloodstained cuff, prompted by a Parole Board hearing. - 2003: The law on double jeopardy is passed, paving the way for Bishop’s acquittal to be quashed if new evidence can be found. - August 2003: Results of DNA testing on the Pinto indicate more than two contributors, but are considered unsuitable for comparison against the National DNA Database. - December 2005: More forensic work is carried out and fibres provide “very strong support” for the suggestion the Pinto was linked to Bishop’s home. Hairs from the Pinto are also linked to Bishop. But the CPS concluded the evidence is not yet strong enough for a retrial. - 2007: Stevenson is interviewed again by police and gives conflicting accounts about the Nicola video. Barrie Fellows and Dougie Judd are interviewed but never charged with any offence. - 2011: A further forensic review is led by LGC Limited in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. - August 2012: Cold case specialist Roy Green, from LGC, receives boxes of retained material from the Forensic Archive, including tapings from the post-mortem examinations of the girls. - November 2013: Detective Superintendent Jeff Riley is appointed senior investigating officer in the cold case. Green informs police he has an almost complete DNA profile matching Bishop on the right cuff of the Pinto. - Mid-2015: Senior scientific adviser Rosalyn Hammond concludes the DNA on the cuff cannot be relied on, due to the possibilities of inadvertent transfer. - June 2015: Green finds fibres and DNA linking Bishop and the victims to the Pinto sweatshirt. Bishop’s DNA was found on a swab from Karen’s left forearm. Dr Louisa Marsh connects the girls to the Pinto by paint flecks, also connected with Bishop’s paintwork. - May 10 2016: Bishop is taken from Frankland prison and re-arrested for the murders. - December 12 2017: Bishop is ordered to stand trial for the murders a second time under double jeopardy rules in light of “new and compelling evidence”. - February 2018: Bishop makes his first appearance at the Old Bailey and denies the murders. - October-December 2018: Bishop goes on trial for the murders. - December 10 2018: Bishop is convicted at the Old Bailey of the crimes, on the 31st anniversary of his acquittal in 1987.</s>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.

He was cleared of their murders on December 10 1987 but within three years went on to kidnap, molest and throttle a seven-year-old girl, leaving her for dead at Devils Dyke on the edge of the Sussex seaside city.

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.

A sweatshirt discarded on Bishop’s route home was linked to the defendant by DNA while fibre, paint and ivy hairs placed it at the murder scene in Wild Park.

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.

Members of the girls’ families wept and hugged each other as the the verdict was delivered.

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.

Nicola was a friendly, outgoing girl who would speak her mind, while Karen was sensible, but could also be cheeky, according to their parents.

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.

Afterwards, he gave conflicting accounts to police and produced a series of fake alibis.

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.

Acting on instructions, his defence team cast suspicion on Nicola’s father Barrie, suggesting police spent 32 years investigating the wrong man.

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

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.”

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.”</s>Paedophile Russell Bishop has been handed a life sentence after being convicted of the 1986 Babes in the Woods murder in Brighton.

Bishop, 52, was sentenced to life in prison at the Old Bailey today (December 11) and must serve a minimum of 36 years.

Yesterday (December 10), a jury found him guilty of murdering nine-year-olds Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in Wild Park, Moulsecoomb 32 years ago.

Related stories: Russell Bishop found guilty of murdering two schoolgirls in Brighton – 30 years after being acquitted

Families of murdered Brighton schoolgirls ‘united in grief’ after Russell Bishop is convicted

He was convicted of killing the girls this week having previously been acquitted of their murders more than 30 years ago.

A change in the law on double jeopardy and new forensic evidence meant the case could go before a jury for the second time.

Bishop had been serving a life sentence after being convicted of kidnapping, indecent assault and attempted murder for a separate case involving a girl in Brighton in 1990.

Lorna Heffron, the spokeswoman for Karen and Nicola’s families, said: ““We stand here as two families united in our grief. United in our fight for justice. And now united in our elation at today’s guilty verdict. We are extremely relieved and grateful that our 32 years hard fought battle has been a success, finally getting the rightful long-awaited justice for both of our girls.

“We want to thank our police teams and counsel, who have been fantastic during the past couple of decades. If it wasn’t for their efforts and dedication working with us, we wouldn’t be stood here today. Together we have changed history with this ‘double jeopardy’ ruling and we finally have the correct outcome – Russell Bishop remains behind bars where he belongs.

“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.”</s>Babes in the Woods "monster" Russell Bishop has been jailed for at least 36 years for the murders of two schoolgirls 32 years ago.

The 52-year-old convicted paedophile was found guilty of killing nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, bringing to an end two families' long fight for justice.

Bishop was 20 years old when he sexually assaulted and strangled the girls in a woodland den in Brighton in October 1986.

He was cleared of their murders on December 10 1987 but within three years went on to kidnap, molest and throttle a seven-year-old girl, leaving her for dead at Devils Dyke.

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.

A Pinto sweatshirt discarded on Bishop's route home was linked to the defendant by DNA, while fibre, paint and ivy transfers placed it at the scene.

Tests on a sample from Karen's left forearm also revealed a "one in a billion" DNA match to Bishop.

Bishop responded by trying to cast suspicion on Nicola's devastated father Barrie.

He tailored his evidence to counter the new forensic evidence, claiming to have touched the bodies to feel for a pulse after they were found by two 18-year-olds.

But jurors took just two-and-a-half hours to see through the web of lies and convict Bishop on the "overwhelming" evidence on the 31st anniversary of his acquittal.

Bishop refused to attend court for his sentencing at the Old Bailey.

Handing him a life sentence on Tuesday with a minimum term of 36 years, Mr Justice Sweeney said: "I have no doubt that you were a predatory paedophile.

"The terror that each girl must have suffered in their final moments is unimaginable."

Members of the girls' families wept and hugged each other after the verdict.

Karen's mother Michelle Hadaway said Bishop was an "evil monster".

In a victim impact statement, she said: "Finally Justice has been done and Bishop has been seen as the evil monster he really is.

"On October 15 this year he was tried for the second time. That trial has lasted for a couple of months and has finally led to conviction. This is the result we should have had 31 years ago. Having to go through a second trial has been traumatic and heartbreaking for me and my family."

Sue Eismann, Nicola's mother, told how her world "turned upside down" after the death of her daughter.

On her feelings about Bishop, she said: "I have lived with the pain, the loss and sheer hate towards him for what he had done for the last 32 years.

"Russell Bishop is a horrible, wicked man. No child is safe if he is allowed to be free."

Barrie Fellows said the loss of Nicola destroyed his relationship with his wife, saying it "tore us apart".

On the false accusations he has faced over the murders, he said: "Thirty-two years is a long time to be suspected of murdering your daughter. When they arrested and charged Russell Bishop I thought that would be the end and we would get some closure. It did not pan out like that.

"Since the trial began I have been through every feeling imaginable from hope to sheer dread.

"Words cannot describe how I feel about Russell Bishop and the effect it has had on people's lives."</s>Paedophile Russell Bishop has been handed a life sentence after being convicted of the 1986 Babes in the Woods murder in Brighton.

Bishop, 52, was sentenced to life in prison at the Old Bailey today (December 11) and must serve a minimum of 36 years.

Yesterday (December 10), a jury found him guilty of murdering nine-year-olds Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in Wild Park, Moulsecoomb 32 years ago.

Related stories: Russell Bishop found guilty of murdering two schoolgirls in Brighton – 30 years after being acquitted

Families of murdered Brighton schoolgirls ‘united in grief’ after Russell Bishop is convicted

He was convicted of killing the girls this week having previously been acquitted of their murders more than 30 years ago.

A change in the law on double jeopardy and new forensic evidence meant the case could go before a jury for the second time.

Bishop had been serving a life sentence after being convicted of kidnapping, indecent assault and attempted murder for a separate case involving a girl in Brighton in 1990.

Lorna Heffron, the spokeswoman for Karen and Nicola’s families, said: ““We stand here as two families united in our grief. United in our fight for justice. And now united in our elation at today’s guilty verdict. We are extremely relieved and grateful that our 32 years hard fought battle has been a success, finally getting the rightful long-awaited justice for both of our girls.

“We want to thank our police teams and counsel, who have been fantastic during the past couple of decades. If it wasn’t for their efforts and dedication working with us, we wouldn’t be stood here today. Together we have changed history with this ‘double jeopardy’ ruling and we finally have the correct outcome – Russell Bishop remains behind bars where he belongs.

“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.”

After sentencing, Detective Superintendent Jeff Riley said: “Russell Bishop is a truly wicked man and the life sentence with a minimum term of 36 years reflects the true magnitude of the terrible crimes against these two young girls.

“Bishop will hopefully spend the remainder of his life behind bars where he truly belongs and never darken the streets of Brighton again.

“This significant term of imprisonment will of course never make up for the loss of Karen and Nicola but I hope their families will take some comfort from it.”</s>After 32 years, paedophile Russell Bishop has finally been convicted of the "babes in the wood" murders after advanced forensic techniques revealed his DNA linked him to his young victims through a discarded sweatshirt.

The jury heard new evidence showed he had left skin flakes containing his DNA - a billion-to-one match - on the arm of the girls he sexually assaulted, strangled and dumped in a woodland den.

Nigel Pilkington, senior lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The pathologist took a taping from Karen's left forearm that has been kept in the archive as a matter of historical fact.

"It's just been there. It's like a piece of Sellotape, you can't see anything.

"There is no blood there, but after 32 years it revealed its secret which is that it contained Bishop's DNA."

In police interviews in 1986 and on his rearrest in 2016, Bishop changed his story several times about whether he touched the girls' bodies after joining the two young men who found them.

Confronted with the new evidence of his DNA on Karen's arm, he eventually claimed he had taken her pulse to see if she was still alive.

In a bid to ensure Bishop did not get away with the girls' murder again, Sussex Police brought in the same cold case forensics team which had helped convict the racist killers of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.

In retesting the sweatshirt, investigators found another billion-to-one match to Bishop's DNA.

They also found its fibres on the clothes of victims Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway and fibres from their clothes on the sweatshirt. The sweatshirt had on it Bishop's hairs and fibres from clothes taken from his home.

It also contained fragments of maroon paint from a car he had resprayed.

Similar paint fragments were also found on the girls' clothes.

The sweatshirt was spotted by searchers on grass not far from the murder scene in Wild Park and on Bishop's route home from there.

He claimed the sweatshirt was not his.

There was other forensic evidence from an expert from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, who examined ivy hairs found on the sweatshirt and the girls' clothes.

She concluded they matched ivy that grew prolifically in the den where the bodies were found.

Prosecutor Brian Altman said: "The science alone is quite simply so overwhelming as to prove not only that this defendant wore the sweatshirt, but also that it was worn by him when he killed those two girls."

Also crucial in the prosecution case was the evidence that three years after his original acquittal for the murders, Bishop kidnapped, sexually assaulted and tried to kill another young girl.

Unusually, jurors were given details of the conviction, for which Bishop is still in jail.

None of this would have counted for anything until the scrapping of the double jeopardy law in 2005.

The abolition meant that suspects could in future be tried twice for the same offence, so long as there was "new, compelling, reliable and substantial evidence".</s>A convicted paedophile who was found guilty of murdering two nine-year-old girls in 1986 has been jailed for life.

Russell Bishop, 52, was tried for the second time over the deaths of Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway when new evidence linked him to the crime after he was cleared of their murders in 1987.

The girls were sexually assaulted and strangled in a den in Wild Park, Brighton, more than three decades ago.

He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years.

Bishop declined to attend the Old Bailey to hear his sentencing.

He was initially acquitted of the murders but tests revealed a "one-in-a-billion" DNA match from a sample taken from Karen's left forearm.

A Pinto sweatshirt which had been discarded on Bishop's route home was linked to him by DNA, while fibre, paint and ivy transfers placed it at the scene of the crime.

Their mothers described Bishop, who was aged 20 at the time, as an "evil monster" after 32 years of fighting for justice.

Speaking after the Old Bailey verdict, 31 years to the day Bishop was first acquitted, Karen's mother Michelle Hadaway said she was "relieved".

Although Bishop, a former roofer, was originally cleared of the "babes in the wood" murders, within three years he was sentenced to life for the kidnap, sexual assault and attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl at Devil's Dyke on the South Downs.

Giving evidence earlier in the trial, Bishop said he feared he would be blamed when he joined the search to find the girls on 10 October 1986.

He told jurors he had been wrongly arrested in connection to a bombing at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, and said he had been "sickened" when he first saw the victims' bodies in the woods after the girls had been found.

He had also tried to cast suspicion on Nicola's father Barrie.

A jury at the Old Bailey took just two-and-a-half-hours to convict Bishop.

Mr Justice Sweeney said: "I have no doubt that you were a predatory paedophile.

"The terror that each girl must have suffered in their final moments is unimaginable."

Sue Eissman, Nicola's mother, said: "I have lived with the pain, the loss and sheer hate towards him for what he had done for the last 32 years.

"Russell Bishop is a horrible, wicked man. No child is safe if he is allowed to be free."

Mr Fellows, Nicola's father, who had been accused of the murders, said: "Thirty-two years is a long time to be suspected of murdering your daughter. When they arrested and charged Russell Bishop I thought that would be the end and we would get some closure. It did not pan out like that.

"Since the trial began I have been through every feeling imaginable from hope to sheer dread.

"Words cannot describe how I feel about Russell Bishop and the effect it has had on people's lives."
Russell Bishop is convicted of the murder of Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows. He had been tried and found not guilty of the crimes in 1987, but the acquittal was quashed as new evidence in the form of DNA was now available. Bishop had been convicted in December 1990 of the abduction, indecent assault and attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl in February of that year.