Police apologise for Babes in the Wood failings after double child killer escaped justice for 30 years in bungled probe
POLICE have apologised for their failings in the Babes in the Wood case after a double child killer escaped justice for 30 years.
Russell Bishop strangled nine-year-old Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway in Brighton in 1986 but was cleared of the double murder a year later.
Just three years after he walked free, the monster 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.
Bishop was finally convicted over Nicola and Karen’s death in December 2018 but served just four years for the double murder after he passed away in 2022.
Sussex Police today apologised for their failings in the original investigation, which saw Nicola’s father Barrie arrested.
Bishop sickeningly tried to cast doubt on Barrie – claiming he had watched his daughter being filmed while she was sexually abused.
He was questioned by police following his daughter’s death and a hate campaign was started on the Moulescoomb estate where he lived – forcing him to leave.
Graffiti daubed on a nearby house read: “Fellows Out” as locals hungry for justice sought out someone to pin the horrific slaughter on.
Even after Barrie moved, he continued to be shrouded in suspicion by police who arrested him in 2009 over an alleged plot to rape Nicola before her death that turned out to be completely baseless.
The officers who arrested him were not aware that the allegations had already been investigated and dismissed in 1988.
Chief Constable of Sussex Police Jo Shiner confirmed there was no evidence he had done anything wrong.
She said: “The murders of Karen and Nicola were horrific crimes which rocked the local community, and still resonate today.
“The impact on the community, however, pales into insignificance against the lifelong impact these crimes had on Karen and Nicola’s parents and families.
“Not only did they have to cope with the loss of two children in the worst possible circumstances; following Bishop’s acquittal in 1987, they campaigned tirelessly to ensure that their children received some justice, and Bishop was finally convicted in 2018.
“It is clear that, despite the successful prosecution in 2018, mistakes were made in those earlier investigations in 1986 and 2009.
“On behalf of Sussex Police, I have met in person with both families to formally and personally apologise for those failings in the initial investigation.
“I have further apologised to Nicola’s father, Barrie Fellows, for his unjustified arrest in 2009 and for the distress and the long-lasting impact this had on him and his family.
“I make it clear now. Barrie should not have been arrested. There was, and remains, no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part.
“It is evident that Nicola and Karen’s families were let down by Sussex Police in the past and it is right that we own and learn from these mistakes.
“My thoughts remain with Karen and Nicola’s parents and families and it is my sincere hope that our apologies today will help them finally have some form of closure.”
October 9, 1986: Nicola and Karen, both nine, go missing from their homes in Moulsecoomb, Brighton, East Sussex.
October 10: The bodies of the girls are found huddled together at Wild Park.
December 10, 1987: Bishop is cleared of their murders at Lewes crown court, East Sussex.
December, 13, 1990: Bishop is convicted of a seven-year-old’s attempted murder, kidnapping and indecent assault.
October 16, 2018: He goes on trial again for murders of Nicola and Karen after Court of Appeal gave CPS authority to quash acquittals.
December 10, 2018: Bishop is found guilty of murder in just two hours after an agonising 32 year wait for the family
Karen was discovered lying across Nicola with her head in her friend’s lap and their hands close together following the murder in Wild Park.
“Wicked” Bishop took part in a police hunt for the girls and appeared “grief-stricken” when told they were dead.
In his evil attempt to throw cops off, he also produced a series of fake alibis, including a “wild man” of the woods and his drug dealer.
But he gave harrowing details of the murder scene only the killer could have known – including how one of the girls had foam around her mouth.
Bishop, then aged 20, was subsequently charged with the murders but was cleared after a trial at Lewes Crown Court in 1987.
The fiend lapped up publicity – warning the double child killer was still at large.
Joint statement from victims' families following police apology
“When our two families jointly raised this complaint with the Chief Constable of Sussex Police in May 2019, it was shortly after we had deliverance of the two guilty verdicts for the terrible murders of Nicola and Karen.
“At the end of the Old Bailey trial on December 10 2018, we had felt immense relief that after so much time and wrongdoing, some justice had finally been handed down for both our girls’ murders at the hands of a monster.
“However, we also felt sad, anger and grief and a vast sense of emptiness. We needed answers; Why had it taken 32 years to get us to this outcome? What went wrong in the 1987 trial against the same monster?
“In April 2024, we finally had the answers to our questions from Sussex Police’s perspective. This two-fold apology from Sussex Police is very much welcomed by both our families.
“It will help with our reconciliation of aspects that we had never fully understood, things that we always suspected but had never been addressed.
“There are still more answers to be sought in relation to the 1987 failures, but the part that Sussex Police had to play in the initial miscarriages of justice has now been answered and we appreciate the open and authentic way our apologies have been delivered.
“We are particularly relieved that Nicola’s father, Barrie Fellows, has also been fully vindicated of any wrongdoing. Barrie was made a public scapegoat whilst his life and that of his family, was already in pieces.
“This apology from Sussex Police for his wrongful arrest will help him to finally move forward with his life. His name has rightfully and properly been cleared. It doesn’t reverse all the hardships and terrible pain that he has endured, but it is a step that is absolutely necessary to allow him and his family to heal.
“We thank Sussex Police for seeing this through to a successful conclusion whilst showing integrity, accountability, and responsibility by making these apologies both privately and in this public arena. We know that lessons have been and will continue to be learned. We are immensely proud that Nicola and Karen have left a legacy of such change throughout so many decades.
“We would like to end on a note to the families of other murder victims.
“Please, we implore you, even in your darkest days, never give up. If there is a fight to be had, then fight it.
“If hurdles are thrown in your way, work out how to overcome them. We were once told that we ‘would never get justice’ due to double jeopardy laws. So, we helped to change those laws and we also fought to change so many other aspects along the way.
“If we can get justice for the murder of two little girls after such miscarriages were dealt against us and still go on to win the battle after 32 years, then you can do the same. We are proud to have helped lay some of that hard path that you may need to tread. You can do this.
“RIP Nicola and Karen, you will always be with us in our hearts and memories.”
He even vowed to “keep fighting” in sickening TV interviews – and claimed the ordeal would stay with him for life.
Bishop was put on trial for the second time over the killings under the double jeopardy law following a DNA breakthrough.
He was finally convicted of the murder in 2018 – 32 years after the horrific double killing.
Bishop died in January 2022 after being rushed to hospital from top security HMP Frankland, Co Durham.