The “Babes in the Wood” Murders: The Case That Changed Britain Forever

Narrated by Graham Bartlett, former police officer and crime writer.

The phrase “Babes in the Wood” evokes the heartbreaking image of two little girls, innocently playing on an October evening, only to have their lives brutally and viciously snatched away by a monster. Any double child murder is a horrific tragedy, but this case carried an extra edge of agony due to the profound injustice the victims’ families had to endure for three decades. The case cast a dark shadow over the coastal city of Brighton and Hove for over a quarter of a century.

Brighton was a vibrant town—a go-to destination for tourists from London and the South. But it had two distinct sides: the jolly, tourist-friendly areas, and the pockets of deep poverty on the fringes in public housing neighborhoods like Moulsecoomb and Whitehawk. Despite its struggles, it was a proud, tight-knit community. When this tragedy struck, it shattered that sense of safety forever.

The Disappearance

The nightmare began with a 911 call from Karen Hadaway’s mother. She reported that her nine-year-old daughter had been out playing with her friend and hadn’t come home. The emergency dispatcher handled the call with extreme professionalism. While calls about missing children weren’t entirely unusual, there was something in Mrs. Hadaway’s voice that signaled this was different.

Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway were best friends living close to one another in the Moulsecoomb neighborhood. They came from large, working-class families who absolutely adored them. It was the kind of neighborhood where children safely played in the streets and parks, watched over by a network of neighbors.

The police immediately declared it a critical incident. A massive search operation was launched, flooding the area with officers. As night fell and temperatures dropped, the community was gripped by fear. Parents stopped letting their children walk to school alone; a protective shield went up around every family in the city.

The Gruesome Discovery

The girls were last seen in Wild Park, a large expanse of green fields surrounded by dense, wooded forests directly across from their neighborhood.

As part of the community search, three teenage boys walked down a path known as “Jacob’s Ladder.” Peering through the bushes, they made a horrific discovery. The two girls were lying in a clearing, positioned close to one another. One girl’s arm rested on the other, almost as if they were cuddling in death. Their clothing was disheveled, and while they were not completely naked, it was immediately obvious they had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

The investigation instantly shifted from a missing persons search to one of the largest murder inquiries the Sussex Police had ever launched.

The Prime Suspect: Russell Bishop

One of the first people to draw the attention of the police was a local 20-year-old man named Russell Bishop. He was a known petty criminal—involved in burglary and car theft—but showed no prior signs of being a violent sexual predator. Bishop put himself on the police’s radar through his own bizarre and suspicious behavior.

During the search, Bishop brought his dog to the park and asked officers for an item of the girls’ clothing so his dog could “track their scent.” The police dismissed him, noting they had their own trained K-9 units. Yet, Bishop somehow managed to obtain an item of clothing from Karen Hadaway’s house anyway. Looking back, it was a clear attempt to explain away any forensic evidence connecting him to the girls if he were caught.

Later, Bishop approached a 6-foot-7 police officer who was taking a quick smoke break. Bishop joked with him, then abruptly stated he was giving up on the search because, “If I find her, I’m going to get charged with it.”

Moments later, a call came over the radio that the bodies had been found. Bishop and the officer ran toward the scene. Bishop desperately tried to push past the boys guarding the site, shouting that he needed to “see them alive,” even though everyone knew they were dead. His goal was obvious: he was trying to contaminate the crime scene. If he could touch the bodies or attempt “CPR,” he could easily explain why his DNA or fibers were found on the girls. The boys successfully kept him away.

As the investigation deepened, Bishop’s alibi fell apart. He claimed he was home with his girlfriend, but she was actually at work. Furthermore, a light blue “Pinto” brand sweatshirt, stained with blood, was found discarded on the route between the crime scene and Bishop’s home.

The Flawed Trial and Devastating Acquittal

Bishop was arrested, charged, and stood trial in 1987. However, the prosecution made a fatal strategic error: they built their entire case around the premise that the girls were dead by 6:30 PM, because Bishop was seen leaving the park at that exact time.

The problem was that a family friend testified she saw the girls alive in the park, holding a bag of french fries, roughly 15 minutes after 6:30 PM. This completely undermined the prosecution’s strict timeline.

When the judge instructed the jury, he gave them a rigid framework: If you do not believe the girls were dead by 6:30 PM, you must acquit. Because of the witness sighting, the jury felt legally obligated to find him not guilty. In December 1987, Russell Bishop walked free.

The community was sickened. Bishop’s brother burst out of the courthouse doors, punching the air and cheering, “Not guilty, lads!” The victims’ families were absolutely devastated, robbed of justice. To make matters worse, Bishop’s defense had heavily implied that Nicola’s own father might be the real killer—a horrible shadow the innocent man had to live under for decades.

The 1990 Kidnapping: A Predator Strikes Again

In early 1990, the nightmare repeated itself. A 7-year-old girl named Rachel was kidnapped from a different neighborhood in Brighton.

A short time later, she was found wandering naked on a remote hill. She had been thrown into a bramble bush, sexually assaulted, and nearly strangled. Despite her trauma, this brilliant, observant little girl gave detectives crucial clues. She told them she was thrown into the trunk of a car that smelled like “the stuff Daddy uses when his car won’t start” (WD-40). She also mentioned finding a hammer in the trunk, which she used to bang on the inside to try and escape.

Witnesses reported seeing a red Ford Cortina speeding away from the neighborhood. A detective remembered an intelligence report stating Russell Bishop drove a red Cortina.

Officers rushed to Bishop’s home at 10:00 PM on a Sunday night. They found him frantically scrubbing and detailing his car. Inside the trunk, officers found paint chippings matching where Rachel had banged with the hammer. Bishop was arrested for attempted murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping. Thanks to early DNA evidence linking him to Rachel, it took a jury just four hours to convict him. He was sentenced to life in prison.

While it was a relief that Bishop was off the streets, it sparked fury. If the justice system hadn’t failed in 1987, this innocent 7-year-old girl would never have been tortured.

The 32-Year Wait for Justice

Even though Bishop was locked up, the families of Nicola and Karen still desperately needed justice for their daughters. For years, the law of “Double Jeopardy” meant Bishop could not be retried for the 1986 murders, even if he confessed.

Finally, in 2005, British law changed. The Court of Appeal could now quash an acquittal and order a retrial—but only if police could present “new and compelling evidence.”

Detectives reopened the Babes in the Wood case, relying on massive advancements in forensic science. They re-examined the blue Pinto sweatshirt found near the crime scene in 1986. Originally, scientists had used sticky tape to pull fibers and hairs from the garment, sealing the tape on acetate sheets. Because these specific tape strips had been perfectly preserved for decades, modern scientists could extract DNA from them.

The results were undeniable: Russell Bishop’s DNA was all over the sweatshirt, alongside forensic material proving direct contact with the murdered girls.

In 2018, exactly 31 years after Bishop was wrongly acquitted, he stood trial a second time at the Old Bailey in London. It took the jury almost no time to find him unanimously guilty of both murders. The judge sentenced him to a minimum of 36 years, ensuring he would die in prison.

The Aftermath

The families finally got the justice they had craved for over a quarter of a century.

This case stands as one of the most disturbing, frustrating, yet ultimately affirming investigations in British history. It proved that with tenacity, advancing science, and an open mind, the system can eventually correct its worst failures.

When tragedies fade from the headlines and the public stops talking about the murders, the victims’ families still carry that agonizing burden every single day. The police have a solemn duty to never stop hunting killers, to never stop working with grieving families, and to push for changes in the law so that the monsters among us never get away with their crimes.