The families of two schoolgirls murdered more than 30 years ago have welcomed an apology from police for failings in the original investigation and the wrongful arrest of one of their fathers.
Nine-year-old friends Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway were sexually assaulted and strangled in woodland in Brighton, East Sussex, by paedophile Russell Bishop in October 1986.
Bishop was always the prime suspect in what became known as the Babes in the Wood case but mistakes by police and prosecutors led to him being cleared of the murders in December 1987.
He was left free to kidnap, molest and throttle a seven-year-old girl who was left for dead at Devil’s Dyke in February 1990.
The girls’ families spent the next three decades fighting for justice and finally saw Bishop convicted – 31 years to the day of his original acquittal – thanks to billion-to-one DNA matches found on the sweatshirt discarded by the killer and a taping from Karen’s arm.
In a desperate bid to get away with murder a second time, Bishop callously blamed Nicola’s father Barrie for the crimes, accusing him of sexually abusing his own daughter.
Mr Fellows was also arrested by Sussex Police on suspicion of sharing indecent images in 2009, but the force emphasised on Wednesday that there was no evidence of him having done anything wrong.
The officers who arrested him were not aware that the allegations had already been investigated and dismissed in 1988.
The bereaved dad sat sobbing outside the Old Bailey courtroom during the second trial after telling jurors how it had ‘mentally drained’ him.
‘Unless you have lost a child you cannot imagine the heartbreak,’ Mr Fellows said in the witness box in December 2018.
‘It’s like your heart has been ripped from your chest, over and over again, day in day out.
‘To then be accused of being involved in the loss and harm of that child is emotionally and psychologically damaging.’
On Wednesday, Chief Constable of Sussex Police Jo Shiner said there were failings in the original investigation and that Mr Fellows should not have been arrested as part of a connected investigation in 2009.
Ms Shiner, who led an internal review following complaints made by the families in the wake of Bishop’s 2018 conviction, has met with them to apologise.
She said: ‘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.’
Nicola and Karen’s families said in a statement that the two-fold apology ‘is very much welcomed’, adding: ‘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.’
Ms Shiner 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.
‘Throughout the years, the families have continued to engage constructively with Sussex Police and I pay tribute to their strength, their determination and their dignity.
‘When I was Deputy Chief Constable I made a commitment to ensure that all their outstanding complaints were answered, and that Sussex Police would take full responsibility for any past mistakes no matter the passage of time.’
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