Father arrested over 'sexual abuse' of Babes in the Wood victim

The father of one of the “Babes in the Wood” murder victims has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting the child before her death.

Barrie Fellow 59, was arrested at his home in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, today on conspiracy to rape his daughter, Nicola, who was murdered in 1986 aged 9.

The schoolgirl and her friend Karen Hadaway, 10, were found strangled to death in Wild Park, Brighton.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said that a 59-year-old man had been arrested in Cheshire along with a 44-year-old man in Brighton on suspicion of rape.

Sources named the second man as a family friend, Douglas Judd.

The men, who have been bailed without charge to reapper in June, were arrested after a witness came forward with information, The Times has learnt.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said that the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse was unrelated to the ongoing murder inquiry.

The investigation is being led by Detective Chief Inspector Adam Hibbert, of Sussex Police’s Major Crime Branch.

No one has ever been brought to justice for the killings of the two girls, which came to be known as the Babes in the Woods murders.

Russell Bishop, a labourer, who knew both girls and their families and had helped in the search, was arrested two months after they were found together on October 10, 1986.

He was charged with the murders but was acquitted after the prosecution admitted a series of errors in the presentation of forensic evidence at his trial in 1987.

He was jailed for life in 1991 for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl from Brighton but has always denied killing Karen and Nicola.

In 2002, in the light of plans to abolish the double jeopardy rule, which prevented suspects being tried twice for the same crime, Sussex Police announced that they were re-examining the case.

However the force later said that, despite the review, there was not enough evidence to mount a prosecution.

Officers are appealing for anyone with information to contact Sussex Police on 0845 60 70 999, quoting Operation Iford.


Source:the times