“No, I mean the Old Bill wouldn’t believe it would they… well if I found the girls and if they were done in I’d get blamed, I’d get nicked” Russell Bishop
The Student’s Verdict has been following the trial of Russell Bishop who stands accused of the Babes in the Wood murders which took place in Wild Park, Brighton in 1986. The Babes in the Woods refers to Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, two nine year old girls whose bodies were discovered on the Friday 10th October 1986. Bishop’s trial is ongoing at the Old Bailey. If you haven’t already, read ‘Part 1: The Last Days the Girls were seen Alive’ before reading this article so you can understand the movements of Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway on the day they disappeared.
Friday 10th October 1986: The Day the Bodies were Discovered
By Friday, news of the girls’ disappearance had spread and search parties had assembled to try and find them. Yann Svenski, a past member of the Moulsecoomb Citizen’s Band Radio Emergency Group, heard the news of the missing girls and assembled a search party. They searched for the girls throughout the night on Thursday 9th October and into the early hours of Friday 10th October 1986.
Between 12:30 and 12:45am on Friday 10th, Mr Svenski and the group were searching near Moulsecoomb Railway Station. There was a fenced off area between the footpath and the station platform, an area of land where the grass had grown to around 10 inches high. The footpath led into the Hollingdean area, this is where Bishop lived at 17 Stephens Road. A member of the search party, Philip Upton, whilst using his torch, noticed an object in the grass. Another member of the search party, Peter James, recovered the item by jumping over the fence, it was a “light blue crew-necked sweatshirt bearing the ‘Pinto’ brand name’ and it was inside out. It should be noted that the sweatshirt was dry to the touch which indicated that it had not been in the wet grass very long. The search party left the sweatshirt draped over the fence as neither of the girls had been wearing such an item of clothing when they disappeared.
At 2:30am on Friday 10th October police officers visited Bishop’s home address, 17 Stephens Road, where he lived with his partner Jenny Johnson. It was Jenny Johnson who opened the door and took officers up to see Bishop. Bishop told police he had last seen the girls “when I was walking home from Moulsecoomb last night, I saw them at about 5 o’clock talking to the park keeper at the entrance to Wild Park”. He described the park keeper to police and explained that he had been to Dougie’s house in Newick Road before seeing the girls. Jenny Johnson interrupted, suggesting to police that they speak to Marion Stevenson with whom Bishop was having a sexual relationship. She lived at 19 Barcombe Road and the girls were friends with her.
Geoffrey Caswell, a close neighbour of the defendant’s, would occasionally go fishing with Mr Bishop and digging for bait. At 2am on Friday 10th October 1986, Mr Caswell had gone fishing and didn’t return until 7:30am. Following his return from fishing, he knocked on the the defendant’s door to tell him about his catch but he got no reply so wrote a note and put it through the door. Caswell got back from the market at around 10am when he saw two detectives knocking on Bishop’s door. They had attended to get a fuller account from Mr Bishop.
Bishop told detectives that he had know Nicola Fellows through her father, Barrie, because they played football together for 3 years. He had known Karen Hadaway through her father, Lee, with whom he shared an interest in sea fishing. Bishop went on to explain that on Thursday 9th October he had called at the Fellows home address to see Dougie Judd, this would have been at approximately 3:15pm. He said that the door was answered by a young girl, he could not describe the girl but said it was not Nicola or Karen. He was informed that Judd was not in so he left. Bishop explained that he walked back into Barcombe Road, crossed Lewes Road to the Wild Park side of Lewes Road and he walked along the path towards Brighton. On his journey he saw Karen and Nicola playing on their own just North of the entrance to Wild Park. Bishop recalled seeing the park keeper talking to the girls and then he spoke to the park keeper and a man (Albert Barnes) about his football injury. After a short conversation with them, he crossed Lewes Road and went to a newsagent on Barcombe Road to buy a newspaper, however, he realised he had no money so he left. He was embarrassed and thought the shop keeper would remember the encounter. After leaving the shop, Bishop could not recall whether the girls were still playing together. He walked home and could not recall what time he arrived back. Bishop explained that Jenny Johnson, his partner, was working that evening.When asked about the clothing he had been wearing at the relevant time (3:30-4:00pm), Jenny Johnson interjected that he had been wearing a blue top and jeans. Jenny went into the kitchen and came back with a blue sweatshirt with a stripe across the chest. Bishop agreed that this was what he had been wearing. Bishop had received Caswell’s note and went to his house, they spoke about fishing and the police visit. The defendant told Mr Caswell he was going to help look for the girls as he knew them and their families, the prosecution called this a “deliberate attempt to divert attention away from himself”.
Between 12:45pm and 1pm on Friday 10th October 1986, Michelle went out searching for Karen with Kathleen Measor (neighbour and Wayne Measor’s mother) when she saw Bishop with his dog, Misty, Marion Stevenson and a woman called Belle Badger. They were at the entrance to Wild Park. Michelle did not recall speaking to them. Kathleen Meason could recall the defendant saying something along the lines of “I saw them last night. I was going out. I wish I hadn’t have gone now”. Between 1pm and 1:15pm, Michelle saw Dougie Judd and the defendant with the dog walking towards her. Bishop spoke to her and asked if she had an item of Karen’s clothing that the dog could get a scent from. Michelle thought of a white coat Karen had worn to school. She told Bishop that he could go to her home and ask the policeman there if he could have it and to say she approved. Michelle was still in the park when Judd returned with Bishop who was carrying a Sainsbury’s bag, in the bag was Karen’s white coat.
A man in a car arrived and Michelle heard the three men saying that they were going to go to a place known as ’49 Acres’ to continue the search for the girls. 49 Acres is an area of land that extends from Hollingbury Golf Course by Ditchling Road, it should be noted that this is not close to where the girls were found. Michelle got in the car with the men. She did not see Bishop give his dog the coat to smell. At 2pm, PC Christopher Markham was on duty in Moulsecoomb police box when he accompanied Bishop and Dougie Judd on a search of Wild Park under the instructions of Inspector Brooks. The officer recalled that the defendant was wearing a pair of black/ grey trousers, a cream-coloured shirt, a patterned jumper and a pair of old trainers. They headed to the park entrance where Bishop explained to the officer that his dog had been trained by his mother to track and this was where the officer’s attention was drawn to the white coat in the bag. Bishop placed the coat over the dog’s muzzle and said that the dog would now have Karen’s scent. They headed northwards into an area of the park towards Woburn Place where Bishop shouted instructions at his dog which, according to PC Markham, behaved as if it were tracking. They reached Jacobs Ladder, approximately 150 yards north of the pavilion. It was here that the dog appeared to lose concentration, the defendant said that the dog had lost the scent. PC Markham was doubtful and suggested they return to the organised search. Bishop said that he would not like to search on his own in case he found anything, he said he would “hate to find the girls, especially if they had been messed up”. The prosecution say that this was not the only time that day that Bishop would say such a thing, suggesting that he had knowledge of what had happened to the girls.
At around 3:30pm Robert Gander, an engineer for the South Eastern electricity board, went to the electricity sub-station which was located near the footpath by Moulsecoomb railway station leading to Crespin Way and into the Hollingdean area and the area of land where the sweatshirt had been discovered. Mr Gander noticed the sweatshirt after he saw a woman staring at it on the grass verge, it had the word ‘Pinto’ on it. Gander noticed how it smelt of body odour and had some form of red staining around the chest area and the right sleeve. He was reminded of the girl’s disappearance so thought that the item might be of interest. Shortly after 4pm, Mr Gander handed the sweatshirt to PC David Edwards.
At around 4pm, a hospital porter Kevin Rowland, 18, decided to join the search for the girls after finishing work. His friend Matthew Marchant, 18, also volunteered. The two friends walked along Lewes Road, in the direction of the old bowling green and entered Wild Park. They followed various paths looking into the overgrown areas and eventually taking a narrow path running alongside Highfields. During their search, Rowland found an old kitchen knife which he kept hold of. As they crossed the path at the top of Jacob’s ladder, Bishop shouted from the bottom of the steps “any luck yet?” To which they replied, “no”. They continued through dense brambles leading to a track going uphill. Rowland noticed some broken branches and remarked that they should try looking there.
Finding the Bodies
The track appeared to bend round to the left and, as Rowland followed it, he saw one of the girls lying in front of him, he estimated about 15 feet away. He immediately thought that she was dead. He called for his friend, Marchant, “shit, I’ve found them!” Marchant walked a few paces further and looked, he could see the top half of the body of one of the girls. He could make out part of the side of her face and a hand but did not get any closer. At around the same time as the bodies were found by Rowland and Marchant, PC Paul Smith (Smudge) was searching through the lower line of trees. He met Bishop who was walking his dog and another male.
The defendant asked the policeman if he had been searching long, PC Smith replied that he had been there since 8am to which the defendant replied, “me too, I came down earlier and made a statement”. The other man walked off and Bishop asked, “do you think the kids are around here?” to which PC Smith said he did not know. Bishop responded, “I reckon they’ve either gone north or if they’re here they’re finished”. PC Smith replied, “well, Brighton has some strange people in it”. The defendant responded, “yeah, anyway I’m not searching anymore” and, when asked why not, he said “no, I mean the Old Bill wouldn’t believe it would they… well, if I found the girls and if they were done in I’d get blamed, I’d get nicked”. PC Smith said, “no, obviously you would have to give a statement but it doesn’t follow”. Together they started to walk back out the trees northwards. The prosecution said “if the defendant had nothing to do with the girls’ disappearance and was innocent of their murders, you might well wonder why, even before they had been found, he was the on raising the prospect that they might be found dead and that if he found them he would get the blame for it”.
As Bishop and PC Smith were talking, Kevin Rowland sent Matthew Marchant to get help. Marchant ran back down the path towards Bishop and PC Smith saying “we’ve found them, somebody has found them”. PC Smith and Bishop ran towards the pavilion but PC Smith told Bishop to run ahead as he thought he would be faster, warning him and the boys to keep away from the girls. Marchant saw Bishop and his dog running from the direction of the entrance of the park, they went together down the track where they joined Rowland. Marchant again went off to get help whilst Bishop and Rowland stayed until PC Smith arrived. The defendant went to step over Rowland to get closer to the bodies but Rowland told him not to go any nearer and to sit down, which he did. Upon his arrival, PC Smith asked, “how are they? How are the girls?” to which Bishop replied, “they’re fucking dead”.
PC Smith asked where the girls were, Rowland pointed West along the path and PC Smith stepped over Rowland to look where he was pointing. He saw a small clothed figure approximately 15-20 feet away at the end of the path. He recalled the striking pink colour of the top. This was Nicola Fellow whose body was laying closest to the entrance to the clearing. PC Smith remembered it was very hard to see the girls in the undergrowth so he crawled through an opening in the bracken where he could see the figures of two girls lying on the ground. He recalled that one girl was laying on her back with her legs up, she was wearing a pink top and had a bruise to her face, this was Nicola Fellows. When PC Smith was close enough to touch the bodies he noticed the blood on Nicola’s nose was frothy. The other girl, Karen Hadaway, was lying across Nicola with her head in her lap. Both appeared to be sleeping and bother their hands were close together. PC Smith checked the girls’ necks for a pulse but there was no response and they were very cold, both girls were clearly deceased. PC Smith noticed that Rowland had a kitchen knife and he asked where it had come from so Rowland explained. PC Smith told Bishop to stop anyone coming up the path and to show the other officers where to go.
4:21pm was the recorded time of discovery.
Superintendent Tomlinson arrived a short while later and was directed by a woman on the grass bank to where PC Smith was. Mr Tomlinson clambered though the undergrowth with the woman and arrived at the scene. The woman was visibly distraught which, in turn, was affecting Marchant and Rowland but not Bishop who Supt Tomlinson noted was not unduly affected by the situation. Supt Tomlinson remained with PC Smith and directed the three men to make their way back down to the grass area where another officer was waiting. Officers waited with the bodies until the Crime Scene Investigation team and other detectives arrived.
The Investigation Begins
At 5pm, Mark Barnes, a police photographer, arrived. He recalled that the undergrowth was so thick it was like crawling under a table to get to the scene and there was no other way in. Between 5:45 and 6pm Dr Isaac, a police doctor, attended the scene and conducted a brief examination. The doctor remembers finding it difficult to get close to the bodies, from his position he could see that the girls were clothed and there were signs of injuries to their faces and necks. At 6:30pm consultant forensic pathologist, Dr Iain West, attended the scene. He saw Nicola Fellows lying on her back at the opening to the clearing near a tree. Her left arm was by her side and her right arm went across her chest. Dr West noted that she appeared to be fully clothed. Articles of clothing were by her left hand, these included a pair of pants belonging to Karen Hadaway. Karen was towards the far end of the clearing, laying face down at a right angle to Nicola. Her right arm came over Nicola’s body and her head rested on her own right arm and Nicola’s abdomen. Her left arm extended at a right angle to her body. Other than her missing pants, she too was fully clothed. Dr West noted that there was bruising to the girls’ necks. A Crime Scene Officer, Edward Redman, recovered Karen’s knickers and sweatshirt from under Nicola’s hand.
During Bishop’s ongoing trial, Dr Nathaniel Cary, a consultant forensic pathologist, was asked to look through Dr West’ evidence, who had since passed away. Dr Cary agreed with Dr West’s conclusion that external and internal findings in relation to the neck in both cases are typical of those seen in manual strangulation where compression is achieved by the use of one or both hands.
That’s the Verdict.
NEXT The Defendant’s Chronology
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