Jurors in Stone trial taken to scene of murders

A jury filed along a narrow grassy track yesterday to retrace Lin Russell's final walk through the Kent countryside with her two daughters.

The jurors, lawyers and court officials walked to the copse where the three were attacked by a man with a hammer in 1996. White cards with the names of Dr Russell, 45, Megan, six, and Josie, then nine, were left by the path to show where they were found. As the second trial into the murders moved from Nottingham Crown Court, the nine male and three female jurors spent 40 minutes at the crime scene.

The three had allegedly been bound, blindfolded and repeatedly battered with a hammer. Dr Russell and Megan were killed but, despite horrific injuries, Josie Russell survived the attack at Chillenden, Kent.

The convoy of vehicles that arrived in Kent yesterday included a white Ford Galaxy people-carrier holding the alleged killer, Michael Stone, who was not seen to leave the car.

The jury were first shown a gate, where the family was last seen by a witness before they walked into Cherry Garden Lane, where the attack took place. The jury then walked up a narrow road that led on to a track, which trailed up to the copse.

Mr Stone, 41, unemployed, of Gillingham, Kent, is alleged to have driven past the family in the lane, and slid his car across the track. Josie has told police the man who attacked them tried to rob the family before ordering them into the copse.

After visiting the copse – where a cross could be seen carved into a tree trunk where the bodies were found – the jurors were then taken by minibus to other places mentioned during the trial. They first went to a windmill in Chillenden, across the fields from the murder scene, where one witness, Isobel Cole, said she saw a man standing near by with a claw hammer in his hand.

The jurors then moved on to a hamlet, Rowling Court, where a witness, Anthony Rayfield, said he saw a man dump a string bag, which was later found to contain bloodied strips of towel allegedly used to tie up members of the family.

Mr Stone denies murdering Dr Russell and Megan and the attempted murder of Josie.

The trial continues today.