An "evil monster" who molested and strangled two schoolgirls 32 years ago will be sentenced later.

Russell Bishop was found guilty of the Babes in the Woods murders on Monday, bringing to an end two families' long fight for justice.

Bishop was 20 years old when he attacked nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway in a woodland den in Brighton.

He was cleared of their murders on December 10 1987 but within three years went on to kidnap, molest and throttle a seven-year-old girl, leaving her for dead at Devil's Dyke.

While serving life for attempted murder, Bishop, now 52, was ordered to face a fresh trial under the double jeopardy law, in light of a DNA breakthrough.

A Pinto sweatshirt discarded on Bishop's route home was linked to the defendant by DNA, while fibre, paint and ivy transfers placed it at the scene.

Tests on a sample from Karen's left forearm also revealed a "one in a billion" DNA match to Bishop.

Bishop responded by trying to cast suspicion on Nicola's devastated father Barrie.

He tailored his evidence to counter the new forensic evidence, claiming to have touched the bodies to feel for a pulse after they were found by two 18-year-olds.

But jurors took just two and a half hours to see through the web of lies and convict Bishop on the "overwhelming" evidence on the 31st anniversary of his acquittal.

Members of the girls' families wept and hugged each other after the verdict.

Afterwards, Karen's mother Michelle Hadaway said Bishop was an "evil monster".

She said: "After 32 years of fighting, we finally have justice for Karen and Nicola.

"Time stood still for us in 1986. To us them beautiful girls will always be nine years old. They will never grow up."

"What people like Bishop inflict on the families of their victims is a living death."

The Fellows family said: "The guilty verdict doesn't bring Nicola and Karen back, but we know that other children are now safe from the hands of Russell Bishop.

"He is a monster. A predatory paedophile. Russell Bishop truly is evil personified."

Barrie Fellows said being wrongly accused of being complicit in his daughter's abuse and murder was "the worst thing that can ever happen to anyone".

Crying, he said: "Why me? What have I done? All I have done is lost my little girl."

The case, dubbed Babes in the Woods, shocked the nation in 1986 and blighted the tight-knit community of Moulsecoomb, on the edges of the South Downs in Brighton.

It is believed to be the oldest double jeopardy case and Sussex Police's longest-running murder inquiry.

Half way through his evidence, Bishop refused to carry on, then chose not to attend the rest of his trial.

Mr Justice Sweeney said he would require the defendant to be present when he is sentenced at the Old Bailey on Tuesday.