Families of Babes in the Wood victims welcome Sussex Police apology

Their statement follows a formal apology from Chief Constable Jo Shiner for failings in the force’s investigations into the murders of the two nine-year-old girls and the wrongful arrest of one of their fathers.

Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway were sexually assaulted and strangled in woodland in Brighton by paedophile Russell Bishop.

On Wednesday Chief Constable Shiner said there were failings in the original investigation into their deaths in 1986, and that Nicola’s father Barrie should not have been arrested as part of a connected investigation in 2009.

Bishop, who was already serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, molestation and the attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl in Brighton, was finally brought to justice over the deaths of Nicola and Karen in 2018 after a retrial based on fresh forensic evidence as part of a prosecution made possible under reformed double jeopardy laws.

The families issued a statement through Sussex Police following the apology to say: “When our two families jointly raised this complaint with the Chief Constable of Sussex Police in May 2019, it was shortly after we had deliverance of the two guilty verdicts for the terrible murders of Nicola and Karen.

“At the end of the Old Bailey trial on December 10, 2018, we had felt immense relief that after so much time and wrongdoing, some justice had finally been handed down for both our girls’ murders at the hands of a monster.

“However, we also felt sad, anger and grief and a vast sense of emptiness. We needed answers; Why had it taken 32 years to get us to this outcome? What went wrong in the 1987 trial against the same monster?

“In April 2024, we finally had the answers to our questions from Sussex Police's perspective.

“This two-fold apology from Sussex Police is very much welcomed by both our families. It will help with our reconciliation of aspects that we had never fully understood, things that we always suspected but had never been addressed. There are still more answers to be sought in relation to the 1987 failures, but the part that Sussex Police had to play in the initial miscarriages of justice has now been answered and we appreciate the open and authentic way our apologies have been delivered.

“We are particularly relieved that Nicola's father, Barrie Fellows, has also been fully vindicated of any wrongdoing. Barrie was made a public scapegoat whilst his life and that of his family, was already in pieces. This apology from Sussex Police for his wrongful arrest will help him to finally move forward with his life. His name has rightfully and properly been cleared. It doesn't reverse all the hardships and terrible pain that he has endured, but it is a step that is absolutely necessary to allow him and his family to heal.

“We thank Sussex Police for seeing this through to a successful conclusion whilst showing integrity, accountability, and responsibility by making these apologies both privately and in this public arena. We know that lessons have been and will continue to be learned. We are immensely proud that Nicola and Karen have left a legacy of such change throughout so many decades.

“We would like to end on a note to the families of other murder victims.

“Please, we implore you, even in your darkest days, never give up. If there is a fight to be had, then fight it. If hurdles are thrown in your way, work out how to overcome them.

“We were once told that we 'would never get justice' due to double jeopardy laws. So, we helped to change those laws and we also fought to change so many other aspects along the way. If we can get justice for the murder of two little girls after such miscarriages were dealt against us and still go on to win the battle after 32 years, then you can do the same. We are proud to have helped lay some of that hard path that you may need to tread. You can do this.

“RIP Nicola and Karen, you will always be with us in our hearts and memories.”