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A killer committed several burglaries before he sexually assaulted and murdered children. Russell Bishop, 55, murdered Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, both nine, in 1986. However, Bishop was only convicted of Nicola and Karen’s murders in December 2018, having been cleared at an early trial in 1987.
In 1990, he was jailed for life for the attempted murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of a seven-year-old girl. Bishop’s criminal records, now seen by The Argus, show that the child killer was convicted for a string of burglaries in 1984, 1985 and 1986 - the year Nicola and Karen were killed. He was convicted five times for a total of 16 offences, including "offences against the person", sexual offences and theft.
Karen Hadaway (left) and Nicola Fellows (right) were killed by Bishop in 1986 (Image: PA) On September 11, 1984, Bishop appeared before a court for the first time at Brighton Magistrates’ for a non-dwelling burglary and theft. His plea was recorded as not known - although he was guilty of the offence and fined £200, ordered to pay £100 compensation and costs of £50. On April 11, 1985, he faced charges for five burglaries at Chichester Crown Court, where he was ordered to complete 150 hours of community service for each offence concurrently and pay £400 in compensation.
On April 18, 1986, he was again tried for five burglaries at Lewes Crown Court. He was sentenced to two years conditional discharge for each offence concurrently, resulting from the convictions on April 11, 1985. On October 9, 1986, Bishop lured Karen and Nicola to a park in Brighton before sexually assaulting and strangling them to death.
Russell Bishop (Image: PA) Because of their location in Brighton's Wild Park, the murders later became known as the Babes in the Wood murders after the children's tale. Bishop, who was 20 at the time, escaped justice for 32 years. He was then jailed in 1990 after he left seven-year-old Rachael Watts to die at Devil’s Dyke, near Brighton.
In 2022, Rachael waived her legal right to anonymity and told The Sun how she wants to “let go and stop being scared of people finding out”. READ MORE: Teenager is accused of murdering his father The Fellows and Hadaway families campaigned every two years when Bishop was up for parole for the attempted murder, urging for him to not be released. The case of Nicola and Karen was then reviewed in 2011 following new DNA advances linking him to a sweatshirt that had been found.
Still in jail for the Devil's Dyke attack, Bishop was found guilty and given another 36 years for the Babes in the Wood murders in 2018. Bishop died on January 20, 2022, in HMP Frankland. A report from the prisons and probation ombudsman (PPO) concluded that Bishop died from Covid-19 pneumonitis and heart disorders and said that he also had diabetes and metastatic bowel cancer.
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