THE man accused of murdering two schoolgirls in the 1980s lied to police and to the victims’ families to hide his guilt, a court was told.

Russell Bishop’s trial at The Old Bailey in London resumed yesterday, where he is accused of killing nine-year-olds Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in Wild Park in Brighton in 1986.

Prosecutor Brian Altman QC told the jury that Bishop told witnesses key details about the position of the girls bodies and their injuries.

They are details that only the killer could have known, he told the court.

Bishop had joined search parties looking for the girls, on Friday, October 10 1986, and even went with Karen Hadaway’s mother Michelle to search at Hollingbury Golf Course, the jury was told.

Later he went to see Nicola’s father Barrie Fellows, where he wrongly told Mr Fellows he had been cleared of the offences, the court heard.

The court was told he had started to raise the prospect of the girls being dead and “messed up” just hours into the search.

He was interviewed for a second time on the Wednesday after the bodies were found.

Mr Altman said: “He was shown the notes from the previous interview and it was pointed out that he had said that he had checked for a pulse on the girls’ necks.

“He denied saying this, saying he intended to do this but had not in fact done so, and despite having signed a witness statement.

“When shown the passage in the witness statement, he claimed he did not realise it was in there and it had been a mistake.

“Pausing there, you may think that was some mistake to make.”

Bishop, now 52, changed his version of events, eventually accepting he had not checked for a pulse, Mr Altman said.

Yet he still knew about the bloody froth coming from Nicola’s mouth, which would not have been visible unless he had been extremely close to her, the court heard.

Mr Altman said: “He could never have guessed that Nicola’s mouth had foam on it from the effect of strangulation and he said that no one else had told him that information.

“So, if he did not see it for himself after the finding of the girls and if he did not get it from anyone else, how did he know it? There is only one answer.”

He claimed to have an alibi from an insurance man visiting him at home, but that was a lie, and denied seeing either of Mark or Kevin Doyle.

Meanwhile, police quizzed him about why he had not met his second girlfriend Marion at 6pm, and he replied that he was seeing his drug dealer to buy dope.

His dealer said Bishop had not arranged to buy any on the night in question.

Another claim, that he had gone to buy a newspaper but had no money, was also a lie.

When police said he was under arrest on suspicion of the murders, he replied: “No, no, it’s not me, f***off, leave it out.”

Bishop denies two counts of murder.