GUILTY UK - Nicola Fellows, 10, Karen Hadaway, 9, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, 9 Oct 1986

[Alyce]

@IanWoodsSky


After a short break, Russell Bishop is now in the witness box and the jury are returning to the courtroom.

Russell Bishop is now seated in the witness box. He’s wearing a grey tee-shirt, khaki coloured trousers and white trainers. We wait for the jury to return.

 

[Alyce]

Jury back.
Joel Bennathan QC asks his client Russell Bishop, did you kill the girls?
Bishop: No I did not, no.
Do you know who did?
No I don’t.

Bishop says that over the 3 years since he was originally acquitted of the girls’ murders, the brake lines on his car were cut 8 or 9 times. By 1990 he says, he was in a very bad state.

He says he grabbed his 1990 victim while in a violent temper having hurt his hand while working on his car. He says he now feels deeply ashamed and admits that during his trial he did not tell the truth in any way shape or form.

 

[Alyce]

Just backtracking and posting a few tweets from Helena Lee, from earlier today

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 40m40 minutes ago
(Public gallery is packed today)

The mother of Karen Hadaway - - one of the girls - is in court as she has been since the trial started.

Defence barrister to jury: Our submissions to you are simple. The scientific findings if sound would be extremely strong but the ones that provide evidence against him are in leaky time capsules.

 

[Alyce]

@SkyFixerJim
Mr Bennathan now takes Bishop back to his birth and his early years in Brighton and the surrounding area. He’d been living in Hollingdean for about a year before he was arrested for the murders of Nicola and Karen in 1986.

Bishop denies killing Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows. Referring to his conviction of attempted murder, kidnap and indecent assault of a 7 year old girl in 1990 Bishop says “I feel deeply ashamed” Says that during his trial “I did not tell the truth in any way shape or form.”

 

[Alyce]

@SkyFixerJim
He says his relationship with his girlfriend Jenny with whom he had a child was very bad in the autumn of 1986. They were both cheating on eachother. Jenny became pregnant again in October.

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 2m2 minutes ago


Russell Bishop tells jury by the time he was arrested in 1986 he had been in court for theft related and driving offences.
Defence barrister tells his client he is dropping his voice quite a lot and needs to speak up.
Russell Bishop: “I apologise”

 

[Alyce]

@SkyFixerJim

Bishop admits he’d been up before the court in 1984/5/6 for thefts and burglaries. He’d been given fines and community service orders. They were struggling financially so he took on a labouring job. Thru this job he met Marion Stevenson and they started a relationship.

 

[Alyce]

On the morning of 9th Oct 1986 he intended to go bait digging but his car broke down on Ditchling Road, Brighton. He dumped it by the side of the road and walked home with his dog, Misty.

Bishop admits he then went looking to steal a vehicle because he needed one for work. He went to the Sussex University car park. He was hoping to steal a red Ford Escort like the one he owned so he could change the number plates.
He found a car but couldn’t start it and decided to head for home.

He got talking to someone on his way home. He saw Nicola and Karen playing on a tree in Wild Park. He then went to someone’s house “to purchase a small amount of cannabis.” He was asked to wait and spent 15 mins on the doorstep. He got his cannabis and went home.

Bishop says he popped into a public toilets to roll a joint which he then smoked as he walked home. He thinks he got home about 1850. Jenny wasn’t home. He got in the bath, then answered the door to an insurance salesman. He doesn’t remember who the salesman represented.

Bishop says he then cooked a meal, did some washing and watched the last 10 mins of Eastenders. He says he can remember what happened in the episode. Jenny came home, they watched a film and they went to bed.

Two police officers called at 0230 in the morning and asked if he knew anything about the missing girls. Bishop agrees that the police returned again at 10 the next day.

@SkyFixerJim

 

[Alyce]

@SkyFixerJim


Worth pointing out that Bishop is being questioned at the moment by his own lawyer, Joel Bennathan QC. Later he’ll be cross examined by the prosecutor.

 

[Alyce]

slightly more detail in Helena's tweets - he went fishing with a friend - wonder what happened to friend ?

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 22m22 minutes ago

Russell Bishop tells jury he got up to go fishing with a friend. His car broke down in the morning while he was out, he says. Tells jury he walked back home with his dog Misty and had an argument with his wife about her going to work.

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 8m8 minutes ago

Russell Bishop tells jury he got home at around 18.50 that night, expecting to see his wife Jenny but she wasn’t in. He says he had a bath, an insurance man came round, he answered the door and then he got back in the bath.

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 7m7 minutes ago


Russell Bishop tells jury he then cooked a meal and did some washing.
Defence barrister: What washing? From what days?
Russell Bishop: That day and other days.
Says he then watched last 5-10 minutes of Eastenders.

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 6m6 minutes ago


Tells jury Jenny (his wife) came home with his son. Put his son to bed. He and Jenny then watched The Runaway Train.
Russell Bishop: “It was a disaster movie”

 

[Alyce]

Bishop says when speaking to the officers he didn’t tell them about his visit the previous day to the University of Sussex car park. “I didn’t want to get in trouble.”

@SkyFixerJim

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 46s46 seconds ago

Russell Bishop is now being asked about the day after the girls went missing. He tells jury he used his dog Misty to help trace the missing girls. He says he got clothing from Mrs Hadaway’s house - Karen Hadaway’s mother (to help dog with tracking).

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 2 minutes ago

Russell Bishop asked why he told a police officer he bumped into words to the effect of the girls had gone up north. “I made silly comments like that” he tells the jury.

Russell Bishop says he had fears he would be suspected in connection with the girls disappearance.

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 30 minutes ago
Russell Bishop’s barrister again tells his client to keep his voice up. He replies that that’s just how he speaks and they should turn the microphone up (that he’s speaking into).

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 5 minutes ago
Defence barrister to his client: You’re dropping your voice again ... let’s get into good habits

 

[Alyce]

@SkyFixerJim5m

Bishop says he and some friends then went to help look for the missing girls. They looked around the Ditchling Beacon area. He was on his way home when he encountered PC Smith. They had a conversation.

Bishop agrees he told the officer the girls “may have gone up north” and he feared that if they were found he would be suspected. He says in 1984 he’d been briefly arrested for the Brighton Hotel Bombing.

He says that there was a murder of a young woman (Margaret Frain?) in 1978 for which his father was arrested. His father was cleared after 6 weeks but the case remains unsolved.

While Bishop was talking to PC Smith, two young boys came out of the woods shouting that they’d found the girls. Smith told Bishop to go up to the area and get everyone away.

 

[Alyce]

Helena Lee‏Verified account @BBCHelenaLee 2 minutes ago


Defence barrister: Did you hear something on 10th October?
Russell Bishop: Two young boys came out from the bushes saying they had found the girls.
Defence barrister to jury: did everyone hear that?
Russell Bishop: I could hear it.

 

[Alyce]

Bishop says “I went straight to the victims and felt for a pulse. The neck on Nicola and Karen on the right arm.”

Bishop says he realised the girls were dead. He says he was “shocked and totally sickened and numbed.”

Bishop says a police officer arrived and he waited until more officers came before he was told to leave the area, after 5 to 8 minutes. Then he was taken home.


@SkyFixerJim