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Update to today's sentencing of Bishop (Dec 11, 2018).
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#REDIRECT [[Babes in the Wood murders (Brighton)#Russell Bishop]]
'''Russell Bishop''' (born 9 February 1966<ref name=argus>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/16986176.russell-bishop-murder-trial-everything-said-by-the-prosecution-on-morning-of-day-1/ |title=Russell Bishop murder trial |website=The Argus |language=en |access-date=2018-12-11}}</ref> in [[Brighton]]) is an [[English people|English]] convicted [[murder in English law|murder]]er, [[child sexual abuse|child molester]], and [[child abduction|abductor]].


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== Early life ==
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Russell Bishop grew up in a respectable family with his parents and four brothers. His mother, Sylvia—an internationally renowned dog trainer—was described in court as "domineering". After educational problems and [[dyslexia]], Bishop was sent away to a special Catholic school in [[Worcester]] aged 15, he ran away and hitchhiked home to Brighton. Bishop’s had been fined £200 for burglary in 1984 and was partial to smoking [[cannabis]]. He also stole car radios and hotwired vehicles. His 2018 defence barrister admitted, that, in 1986, he was “a semi-literate, occasional, not very successful car thief ... an occasional burglar.”<ref name=independent>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/babes-in-the-wood-murders-russell-bishop-trial-verdict-paedophile-karen-hadaway-nicola-fellows-a8629771.html|title=How Babes in the Wood killer Russell Bishop escaped justice to strike again|date=10 December 2018|website=The Independent|accessdate=11 December 2018}}</ref>
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At the time of the murders Bishop, who was 20 years old, was working as a roofer and was living in a ground floor flat in the [[Hollingdean]] area of Brighton. He had fair hair and sported a moustache.<ref name=argus/>

== Criminal history ==
Bishop is serving [[life imprisonment]] for the abduction, molestation, and [[attempted murder]] of a 7-year-old girl in the [[Whitehawk]] area of Brighton.<ref name="Quinn">{{cite news|last=Quinn|first=Ben|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/10/man-found-guilty-of-1986-brighton-babes-in-the-wood-murders-karen-hadaway-nicola-fellows|title=Man found guilty of 1986 Brighton 'babes in the wood' murders|work=The Guardian|date=10 December 2018|access-date=10 December 2018}}</ref> He committed the crime on 4 February 1990, and was sentenced on 13 December 1990. By 2007, Bishop was still in prison and one of the longest-serving prisoners in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] not serving a sentence for murder, despite the trial judge recommending a minimum term of 14 years, which could have seen him out of prison in 2004.

Bishop first became the centre of media attention in October 1986 when he was arrested on suspicion of the [[murder in English law|murders]] and [[child sexual abuse|molestation]] of two 9-year-old girls whose bodies were found in [[Wild Park]], Brighton. The murders became known as the [[Babes in the Wood murders (Wild Park)|Babes in the Wood murders]] after the [[Babes in the Wood|children's tale]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/5349106.stm |title=Sweatshirt at heart of murder case |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=15 September 2006 |accessdate=9 November 2007}}</ref> He was cleared on both murder charges at his trial in December 1987.<ref name="March over murder">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/southern_counties/6036403.stm |title=March over Babes in Wood murder |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=26 October 2006 |accessdate=9 November 2007}}</ref> [[Double jeopardy|Double-jeopardy]] rules had seemed to eliminate any possibility that Bishop might one day face a new trial for the murders, but new legislation in 2005 meant that a criminal could face a new trial for a crime if substantial new evidence came to light. In September 2006, the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] decided that there was not enough evidence for Bishop to face a second trial for the murders.<ref name="March over murder"/>

On 10 May 2016, however, a man, initially not named for legal reasons, was arrested.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/10/man-arrested-1986-babes-in-woods-murders-brighton |title=Man arrested over 1986 'babes in the wood' murders in Brighton |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 May 2016 |accessdate=10 May 2016}}</ref> On 2 February 2018, the [[Press Association]] reported that Bishop was to stand trial at the [[Old Bailey]] accused of the murder of the two girls killed in Brighton in 1986. Bishop was charged and pleaded not guilty; on 10 December 2018, he was found guilty of murder.<ref name="Quinn"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Russell Bishop: Paedophile guilty of 1986 Babes in Wood murders |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-46512496 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=10 December 2018 |accessdate=10 December 2018}}</ref> The Old Bailey jury was told that in 2014 samples, taken from left forearm of one of the victims in 1986, had been re-examined in the hope of finding traces of [[DNA]]. This yielded skin flakes which were subjected to ultra-modern profiling techniques, to produce a result that was one billion times more likely if Bishop’s DNA were present than if it was absent.<ref name=independent/> On 11 December 2018, Bishop received two life sentences and told he must serve a minimum of 36 years.

==References==
{{Portal|England|Biography|Crime}}
{{reflist}}
*{{cite news |url=http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2005/3/8/104751.html |title=Babes in the Wood suspect is sane says father |publisher=The Argus |date=8 March 2005 |accessdate=9 November 2007 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090127051920/http://archive.theargus.co.uk/2005/3/8/104751.html |archivedate=27 January 2009 |df= }}


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[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English criminals]]
[[Category:20th-century English criminals]]
[[Category:20th century in Brighton and Hove]]
[[Category:21st century in Brighton and Hove]]
[[Category:British people convicted of attempted murder]]
[[Category:British people convicted of kidnapping]]
[[Category:British people convicted of kidnapping]]
[[Category:British people convicted of attempted murder]]
[[Category:Crime in Brighton and Hove]]
[[Category:Crime in Brighton and Hove]]
[[Category:Criminals from Sussex]]
[[Category:Criminals from Sussex]]
[[Category:Date of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:English murderers of children]]
[[Category:English people convicted of child sexual abuse]]
[[Category:English people convicted of child sexual abuse]]
[[Category:English people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:English people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:English people who died in prison custody]]
[[Category:English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:English sex offenders]]
[[Category:Pedophilia]]
[[Category:People from Brighton]]
[[Category:People from Brighton]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in England and Wales detention]]

Latest revision as of 06:29, 20 June 2024