Babes in the Wood case reopened

Detectives have reopened their file on the unsolved murders of two nine-year-old girls in Brighton 18 years ago.

The so-called Babes in the Wood murders of close friends Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows, found strangled and sexually assaulted in a park, shocked the nation.

Now Sussex police have launched a new investigation based on DNA tests not available to the original team of detectives.

Although key items of the girls' clothing have gone missing police believe enough are left to provide a key match with their attacker.

Roofer Russell Bishop, 36, stood trial for the girls' murder but was acquitted. Three years later he abducted and tried to strangle a seven-year-old girl two miles from where Karen and Nicola were found.

He was jailed for life at Lewes Crown Court for attempted murder, kidnap and indecent assault but is due to appear before a parole hearing in two months.

Detectives still regard him as their prime suspect and because of changes in the law he could be tried again. Previously the law on double jeopardy meant he could not face trial for an offence of which he had been cleared.

The families of the two girls were told of the new investigation this week. Nicola's uncle Ian Heffron said: "We've been told the police are taking this forward into a fullblooded investigation."