Police apology over 1986 schoolgirls murder case

Karen Hadaway (left) and Nicola Fellows (right) were killed in Wild Park, Brighton, in 1986

The families of two schoolgirls murdered in 1986 have received an apology from Sussex Police over mistakes in its investigations.

Russell Bishop killed nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway in a woodland den in Brighton in 1986.

In 1987, he was cleared of their murders, but went on to kidnap another girl, leaving her for dead.

Bishop was convicted of the murders in 2018 after double-jeopardy laws were changed, permitting a second trial.

He died in prison in 2022.

Following the case, the girls’ families complained to Sussex Police, prompting a review to be commissioned by Jo Shiner, then the force’s deputy chief constable.

The independent review, by Surrey Police, has pinpointed failings in the 1986 criminal investigation, which became known as the Babes in the Wood case.

In addition, Nicola’s father Barrie should not have been arrested as part of a linked inquiry in 2009, Surrey Police said.

Sussex Police said Ms Shiner, now Chief Constable, had separately met with both families to formally apologise.

The girls’ families said in a joint statement that there were “still more answers to be sought” in relation to the mistakes in the 1980s.

“This two-fold apology from Sussex Police is very much welcomed by both our families,” they said.

“It will help with our reconciliation of aspects that we had never fully understood, things that we always suspected but had never been addressed.”

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