Child sex fiend Russell Bishop tried to blame Roy Whiting for crimes he committed.

The Brighton roofer contacted the Sarah Payne inquiry team from prison saying: "I told you I'm innocent."

The 35-year-old paedophile was cleared of murdering nine-year-olds Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in the city's Wild Park in 1986.

He is serving a life sentence for the kidnap and attempted murder of a nine-year-old Whitehawk girl in 1990.

One police source said: "He told inquiry police that it was Whiting all along who committed the Brighton crimes.

"There was so much forensic evidence implicating Bishop in the 1990 case that we didn't waste too much time before dismissing his allegations."

December 12, 2001