Families of Brighton Babes in the Wood blast Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer Johnson was found guilty over her lies to protect Babes in the Wood killer Russell Bishop so he could escape justice in 1987.

He had stood trial for the murders of nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, of Newick Road, Moulsecoomb, who were found dead in nearby Wild Park in 1986.

Their families said she took the “cowards way out” not to tell the police or the court the truth.
Jennifer Johnson
Johnson, now aged 55, originally told police that a crucial piece of evidence, namely a blue Pinto sweatshirt, was Bishop’s.

It linked Bishop to the crime scene with clothing fibres, plant spores, and even the type of paint he had used to spray cars.

But Johnson changed her story and claimed the jumper did not belong to the killer.

Now, 34 years later, her lies have come back to haunt her as she was found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Russell Bishop
Bishop was controversially acquitted at trial in 1987, and was only found guilty following a change to the double jeopardy law and when new DNA evidence linked him to the Pinto sweatshirt and his DNA was found on Nicola’s body.

He was found guilty in 2018 after a trial at The Old Bailey in London, and was already serving a life sentence for the abduction, attempted murder and indecent assault on a seven-year-old girl from Whitehawk in February 1990.
The blue Pinto sweatshirt
The families of Nicola and Karen say had Johnson not lied, he was more likely to have been found guilty in 1987, and therefore he would not have been free to attack the girl in Whitehawk.

Lorna Clary, cousin of Nicola Fellows, speaking on behalf of the families, said: “We stand here again, two families united in grief and united in our continued 34-year fight for justice. 

“We are relieved and grateful at the guilty verdict today. It is one more piece of truth, one more piece of the puzzle.

“Jennifer Johnson blatantly perverted the course of justice for our beautiful girls Nicola and Karen, as well as for the then seven-year old little girl who suffered immensely in the wake of Bishop’s wrongful acquittals. 
The families campaigned for justice
“The wheels of justice are large and they turn incredibly slowly. Justice has finally been served on someone who thought she was untouchable.

“Johnson was infatuated with her lover, the paedophile, double child murderer Russell Bishop. 

“She helped him walk free in 1987 with her lies under oath. Had she not lied, Bishop may have been found guilty. 

“He may not have been free to attack again, which of course he did less than three years after he had been acquitted. She had plenty of opportunities to tell the truth during the past 34 years, instead she took the coward’s way out.”

After a four week trial at Lewes Crown Court, a jury found Johnson, of Saunders Park View, Brighton, guilty.

The jury decided by 11 to one that she was guilty of perverting the course of justice, and by ten to two that she was guilty of perjury.

Ms Clary said Johnson had signed a deal with the former newspaper the News of the World, and received a handsome payday when the paedophile killer was acquitted.

She said: “The now defunct ‘News of the World’ (News UK) also provided encouragement for Johnson to lie. 

“As a key witness in Bishop’s 1987 trial, she lied knowing that there would be a huge financial reward if Bishop received two acquittals for the double child murders. 

The scene in Wild Park in 1986

"He did indeed receive the wrongful acquittals. The News of the World got their stories. The perpetrators got their payday. 

“Our two families were devastated again after those verdicts, yet on the same evening, Johnson and the Bishops celebrated with a funded champagne dinner at the Hilton Hotel. 

“They should all hang their heads in shame. They all had their part to play. They all have blood on their hands.”
Sylvia Bishop was jubilant outside Lewes Crown Court in 1987
The original acquittal of Bishop came amid tensions in the community in Moulsecoomb. Johnson’s home was firebombed, while thugs daubed graffiti on the home of Nicola Fellows’s father Barry Fellows.

Amid huge anger, The Argus received letters telling Russell Bishop and Jennifer Johnson to get out of town.

There was a fight for justice, and slimy Bishop tried to pose as an innocent man.
But his predatory paedophile instincts kicked in when he bundled a girl into the boot of his car in February 1990.

He choked the girl and sexually abused her, then left her for dead, naked at Devil’s Dyke. He dumped his clothing nearby but it was found.

Miraculously the girl survived and identified Bishop as her attacker, and he was jailed for life.

But it left the families of Nicola and Karen facing a long fight for Bishop to face justice.

Ms Clary said: “We have fought for over three decades to get to this point. We have never given up. 

“During our mission for justice, we helped change the law surrounding double jeopardy. We have kept the memories of Nicola and Karen alive in the public eye.

“We want other historical murder families to take hope from today. Please, never give up. It will seem impossible. It will seem that you have a mountain to climb and more. The truth does eventually catch up with those who hide in plain sight. 

“We were told, more than once, that we would never get justice. Please take our lessons with you and never, ever give up your fight. Anything and everything is possible.
Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway were murdered in Brighton (Image: The Argus)

“This guilty verdict will not bring Nicola and Karen back, but we will always carry them in our hearts and memories. Rest in Peace Nicky and Karen, we have kept our promises, we never gave up.”