The Babes in the Woods Murders

by Paul Cheston

The heartbreaking true story of two families' thirty-year fight for justice for their murdered daughters On 9 October 1986, Russell Bishop sexually assaulted and strangled nine-year-old Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, in woods near Brighton. He did not answer for his crimes for over thirty years. Bishop - a petty criminal known to both girls' families - was charged after his suspiciously close involvement in the search for the bodies. But a last-minute change of testimony from his then-girlfriend allowed him to go free, and the Babes in the Woods murders became one of Britain's most infamous cold cases. Four years after his shock acquittal, Bishop was convicted of the attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl. But, with his evil double-murder still unsolved, the Fellows and Hadaway families endured an endless limbo of emotional torture - with Nicola's father, Barrie Fellows, even becoming a suspect as Sussex Police floundered for a conviction - until, finally, new DNA evidence led to Bishop's being made to answer for his crimes. In this first book on the case, veteran crime reporter Paul Cheston brings to life this thirty-year saga of murder, betrayal and injustice - before three decades of hurt led, at last, to healing, justice and hope for the parents of two murdered girls. Written with the approval and cooperation of Nicola and Karen's families, The Babes in the Woods Murders sheds light once and for all on the awful truth behind what happened on 9 October 1986, and how the courtroom dramas that unfolded over a generation finally brought down one of Britain's most depraved killers.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Crime, Mystery

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 11, 2019

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good true heartbreaking story, but even though there is an appendix for the families I still got a bit confused on who was who in what family.

[Annie Booker · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing and tragic story. Unfortunately the book is spoilt somewhat by the large number of spelling errors, typos and grammatical errors.

[Kay Cugini · Rating 1 out of 5]

I give up! Tangled Web of far too many irrelevant people to remember, too many grammatical and typing errors irritating me, actually giving this up and reading the wiki page on what happened. When this book was presented and proof read, in my view somebody should have edited it properly!!

[Cressida McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, especially around the double jeopardy law, but I found some of the writing confusing and there were a lot of niggly mistakes to the text which were irritating.

[Erica Hodges · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish- too many spelling and grammatical mistakes.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love true crime and it's very rare for me not to be interested by it, but this was the worst written true crime book I've ever had the misfortune to read.

I can't describe how sad I feel for the families of the two young girls, Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway who, were murdered by Russell Bishop when they were just nine years-old. Due to police cock ups the families wouldn't see justice done for over 30 years. The father of one of the girls was also arrested on suspicion of the murders at one point, which must've been so traumatic for the poor man.

So, this book should've been interesting and informative, yet there were so many glaring spelling and grammatical errors, it was a real slog to read. Seriously, in seven pages I counted four mistakes.

There was also a glaring mistake in the author's research into one of the solicitors working on the case. Sir Ivan Lawrence QC was said to have defended Donald Nielsen, which is totally untrue, the author meant Dennis Nilsen. Where on earth was his editor for this book?

I also found the author to be quite callous in the way he wrote about Barrie Fellows who would later be wrongfully accused of the sickening crime. During the first trial, as a photo was shown of his daughter's body, Fellows and understandably cried out that he couldn't do this, and angrily left the court. This is a quote from page 94: "Grieving fathers should be cut some slack when confronted with harrowing pictures of their dead daughter but the other parents sitting alongside managed to control themselves." I can't imagine many people could be forced to witness something so awful and just sit there feeling nothing.

I feel sad for the families that this was apparently the best person to write this book for them; the one redeeming thing about it being that the proceeds paid towards repairing the girls' graves.

[Sarah Oakey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The heartbreaking true story of two families' 30-year fight for justice for their murdered daughters
On 9 October 1986, Russell Bishop strangled nine-year-old Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, in woods near Brighton. He did not answer for his crimes for over 30 years.
Bishop, known to both girls' families, was charged after his suspiciously close involvement in the search for the bodies. But a last-minute change of testimony from his then-girlfriend allowed him to go free, and the Babes in the Woods murders became one of Britain's most infamous cold cases.
Crime reporter Paul Cheston brings to life this 30 year saga of murder, betrayal and injustice.
Written with the approval and cooperation of the Fellows family, The Babes in the Woods Murders sheds light on the awful truth behind what happened on 9 October 1986 and how the courtroom dramas that unfolded over a generation finally brought down one of Britain's most depraved killers.

I'd never heard of this case before! It was very harrowing to discover I was the same age, just 9 yrs old, as the victims in 1986 when they were murdered.
The story is incredibly well researched, it's shocking that it took 30 yrs for the families to get justice for these horrific crimes, and sad that some family members had already passed away before justice was served.
Vile Bishop, already in jail since 1990 for the attempted murder of a seven-year-old girl, was finally charged with the murders in 2018 and given a life sentence set at a minimum of 36 years.
Bishop died of cancer in prison in 2022.

[PAUL · Rating 2 out of 5]

The publishers, John Blake, should hang their heads in shame at putting this book in the public domain. I've never read a book with so many spelling, typo and grammatical errors. It must run into the hundreds. Sadly for that reason it gets 2 stars.

Peter James and Graham Bartlett have a book on the case coming out very shortly. I recommend readers interested in this case to wait for that to hit the shops.

[rachael roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good book but a lot of typos and missing words.

[Sarah Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even in audiobook form I noticed the errors and poor writing form. The sad story of injustice is worth telling, however I just don't think this is a great book overall.

[Morgan]

Could really have done with another proofread - the spelling and grammar (and many typos) made it difficult to follow at times.

[River Scott Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've Finished listening to The Babes In The Woods Murders and I rate it 4 stars 🌟

The heartbreaking true story of two families' 30-year fight for justice for their murdered daughters

On 9 October 1986, Russell Bishop sexually assaulted and strangled nine-year-old Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway, in woods near Brighton. He did not answer for his crimes for over 30 years. 

Before listening to this audiobook I never knew anything about this case or heard of Russell Bishop, I found this story deeply shocking and upsetting, Russell Bishop is a man who murdered two little girls but after his was originally acquitted of that crime so this gave him an arrogance this got him thinking I've got away with it once so I'll get away with it again.

He did it again he kidnapped a little girl and left her for dead but thankfully she didn't die and this was the beginning of the end for Russell Bishop but it was still another 30 years until he was in court again for his Babes In the woods murders.

I learnt alot about this case how much pain the familes went though the author deeply researched this case and went into great detail at times its very hard to listen too but I think it's something people should know. I highly recommend this book

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book very captivating especially towards the end as the focus was on the second Babes In The Wood trial, I found the account from the parents heartbreaking and the story as a whole captivated my interest.

Sadly there are quite a few errors in regard to spelling which I feel shouldn't have been missed by the editor, these errors often confused me for moments and interrupted the flow of the book. Overall I enjoyed the read and my first voyage into true crime.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not really heard of this crime before. It was really a heart wrenching story, and I am glad that the families could finally get justice. I did struggle with this book as it did not really investigate the case, and was more a description of the families' struggles, so I could not appreciate the intricacies of the case. I do find it interesting that this case helped to get rid of double jeopardy (to an extent).

[Helen Pomfrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up in Lewes in the70’s and 80’s and remember this case very clearly. This book is really interesting and I found it fascinating to read the ‘inside’ story. However it is poorly written, sometimes difficult to follow the people and time lines. It is littered (every page!!) with spelling mistakes, typos, grammatical errors and poor English. A huge shame! I do t think it can have been proof read!

[Kerry Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The heart breaking case of two girls murdered and the thirty year fight for justice.

This was a tragic and at times really hard book to read. The case is in depth and well laid out. The subject matter is hard hitting and raw. We really see the depth of the suffering the families go through to finally see justice.

[Lucinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going back to 1986 when Nicola and Karen were murdered, we follow the timeline of their death and both families finally getting Russell Bishop convicted.. even after 31 years!

This book goes into the detail of evidence, statements, court and trial of what happened on that day Nicola and Karen became known as The Babes in the Wood!

[Rik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid. Decent coverage, much of the focus is on the victims families and the author admits this from chapter one, i would have preferred a more balanced approach detailing the police investigation too but this works.This is done well, just not my preference.

[Bex Davies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really interesting content but so badly written.
“None of this was nowhere near enough to keep Bishop happy at home.” (One of my favourite examples!) Engaging enough to make me keep reading but it did bug me something chronic.

[Mark Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Full of spelling errors.

Author had a serious chip on his shoulder.

Story is all over the place and hard to follow including references to both part people who seem to be included to pad out the page count.

I feel sorry for the next person who buys this from the charity shop after I donate it

[Nicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and well written book. gave an insight into the thoughts and emotions of the parents and family of the poor children. Felt like you were there in their living room. Did contain many errors as in letters missing from words etc not edited well but for me that didn't spoil the story.

[Billie-jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaking true story.

[Chris Wilby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very authentic and well written, double jeopardy law repeal of saved the day.

[Hilary Cockshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[sheilaskelhorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent description of the horrific murders of two innocent schoolgirls. Mr Cheston's book is such a super read dispite the disgusting way these girls lost their lives.

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a thoroughly researched book on a terrible crime and initial injustice. It gives first hand accounts, documentary evidence, forensic evidence, and closely follows the various court proceedings. If you enjoy true crime, this is certainly a book for you. The only problem I had with it was it needed a good edit. There were numerous typos, repetitions, style inconsistencies, and misused words; I counted three in three pages at one point which is horrendous for a traditionally published book. I also wondered why the British publishers choose to follow mostly American punctuation and style guide rules rather than British, unless they wanted to make it look like a giant newspaper article. The errors and inconsistencies took something away from the publication and lessened it. To me that's really unfortunate because the victims and families deserve the utmost respect, and that includes telling their story as professionally as possible. Sloppy editing is not part of that. I hope a new edition is published soon with the errors corrected.

[Mark O'Keeffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

I've followed most things to do with these awful mirdersvand, whilst I still thimk Bishop hadvan accomplice, this book seems to be as closevto the truth as we will ever get. Massive love to the families if the girls for never giving up. If you're at Wild Park for the anniversary this year I'd love to join you.