Russell Bishop lapped up publicity after his acquittal, proclaiming his innocence and warning that the Babes in the Wood murderer was still at large.

He called for the case to be reopened while speaking to reporters about his newfound freedom, claiming the ordeal would stay with him.

Days after his acquittal on December 22 1987, he was interviewed by regional news programme Coast To Coast.

During the two-minute segment broadcast by ITV franchise holder Television South (TVS), Bishop is filmed casually walking with his dog, hand in pocket and smoking a cigarette while wearing a grey round-neck jumper, black trousers and sporting a moustache.

Sitting next to his mother Sylvia on a sofa in her living room, the pair smile at each other.

As he responds to the reporter's questions, Bishop lowers his eyes and focuses on the floor save for a few cursory glances towards the reporter.

He tells how he has forgiven those who have apologised for thinking he was responsible and he was "over the world" to be living back in the area, adding: "I ain't gonna hide my face. I've done nothing wrong to hide my face for. I (won't) keep out of anybody's way."

Vowing to support the ongoing campaign for justice, he said: "I feel very bitter towards the police that they've closed the case.

"They knew all along that I did not do this and therefore they should open this case again.

"I won't stop fighting until it's open again."

But when asked if he knew who was responsible, Mrs Bishop cuts in to say: "Keeping our ideas to ourselves."

He agrees, adding: "I ain't gonna say nothing. I don't want no-one to go through the same thing I've been through if they're innocent."

Revealing he would be filing a complaint about the police, he described his time with officers as "hair-raising" and "frightening", adding: "They weren't talking like normal human beings, they were acting like blimmin' animals as far as I'm concerned.

"Shouting, threatening, 'You did this, you did this'.

"It was getting to me but I stuck to my own opinion. I was innocent of this offence, I've proved it in a court of law.

"I've got that decision, I've proved my innocence and this case should be open again because that bloke's still out there.

"That bloke or woman, or whoever it is, is still out there just waiting."

He kept to his promise and just as he had joined the search for the girls' bodies, he appeared alongside protesters on a march in August 1989 from Wild Park to John Street police station calling for an independent inquiry into the case.

Pictured among campaigners, he tells television crews of his desire to get "justice for Karen and Nicky" and see the case reopened.

Shortly after, Bishop can be seen in the back of the shot while Karen Hadaway's mother Michelle is interviewed and says: "My daughter was murdered and the person that murdered her has never been brought to justice."

He went on to attack another girl six months later.

Reporting his conviction and prison sentence, local Brighton paper the Evening Argus recounted tales from Bishop's childhood friends of his obsession with attention and how he had finally achieved his long-held ambition - to be noticed.

Even from behind bars he continued to crave the limelight, writing to reporters years later to discuss his time in jail but ignoring their questions when asked if he was responsible for the murders.

His actions heaped unwanted attention on his family, who were caught in the crossfire between him and enraged neighbours.

Mrs Bishop resorted to a front-page newspaper interview in which she begged vigilantes to leave them in peace after her home was firebombed and they received death threats.

She still lives within walking distance of the murder site but remains wary of public attention and is unwilling to discuss the case with reporters.