Mother of Babes in Wood victim ponders legal action against Martin Bashir

Michelle Hadaway says journalist took daughter’s clothes for DNA testing 30 years ago but never returned them

Michelle Hadaway, mother of Babes in Wood victim Karen Hadaway, is considering legal action against journalist Martin Bashir (Gareth Fuller/PA)

The mother of a murdered schoolgirl says she is considering legal action against journalist Martin Bashir after he took her daughter's clothes for DNA testing 30 years ago and never returned them.

Michelle Hadaway says not having the clothing may have hindered her pursuing the Babes in the Wood killer in court and called for an apology from Mr Bashir.

In an interview in The Sunday Times, Mr Bashir was asked about the potentially crucial piece of evidence and replied: "I may have lost it but I don't remember."

Karen Hadaway and her friend Nicola Fellows were found sexually assaulted and strangled in a woodland den in Brighton in October 1986 in what became known as the Babes in the Wood murders.

The families of the two girls spent decades fighting for justice after their killer, Russell Bishop, was initially found not guilty of their murders in 1987.

Speaking to Woman's Hour, Ms Hadaway said Mr Bashir came to her in 1991 and asked to have her daughter's clothing DNA tested for a BBC programme, saying that science had advanced in the five years since the murders, but never returned the clothes.

She said: "Over the years I've been so angry with the fact that this man has never apologised to me, never contacted me, the denials have been going on for quite a long time."

After Bishop was controversially found not guilty in 1987, it took more than 30 years, DNA advances and a change in the law before he was finally convicted at a retrial in 2018.

File photos of Karen Hadaway (left) and Nicola Fellows who were found sexually assaulted and strangled in a woodland den in Brighton in October 1986 (PA)

Last week, Bishop's ex-girlfriend Jennifer Johnson was jailed for six years for committing perjury at his first trial.

Ms Hadaway said Mr Bashir told her he was working on a programme called Public Eye for the BBC.

She said: "So he took the clothes, gave me signed on a piece of paper, said to me not to worry it would probably be a few months before the programme had come out. It was then a few more years.

"I couldn't remember who he was, I couldn't remember the name of the programme, all I know is he had taken the clothes but he hadn't returned them."

When she eventually found the receipt she said she contacted Mr Bashir, who told her he did not remember and had not taken the clothes.

Russell Bishop, who was found guilty of the 1986 ‘Babes in Wood’ murders of schoolgirls Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway (Sussex Police)

Asked if she thought not having the clothes returned may have delayed her decades-long quest for justice, she said: "Well I don't know because I think to myself had he have DNA tested it then maybe we could have taken a civil court case out against the perpetrator.

"So to not give them to me back or not have them DNA tested is a bit shameful, don't you think?"

A spokesperson for Sussex Police said: "We are aware of this matter but it had no material impact on the investigation then or later, or on the 2018 prosecution.

"All forensic evidence needed had been already obtained from the clothing in 1986 and stored separately, including DNA evidence which only became accessible many years later due to advances in forensic technology and which was crucial in securing Bishop's eventual conviction.

"The families have also been told this."

A BBC spokesperson added: “We appreciate how distressing this must be for Ms Hadaway and we will of course discuss this matter with her if and when she wishes to do so.”

Additional reporting by PA