Babes in Wood killer's ex 'had no choice but to lie'

Jennifer Johnson denies perverting the course of justice in 1987

The former girlfriend of convicted Babes in the Wood killer Russell Bishop has told a court she is sorry for lying for him, but had no choice.

Jennifer Johnson, 55, denies perverting the course of justice and perjury after Bishop murdered two girls, aged nine.

Bishop was cleared in 1987 of murdering Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in a woodland den but was convicted in 2018.

Ms Johnson told Lewes Crown Court she felt sorry for the families, but that Bishop had threatened her.

Jurors have previously heard Ms Johnson, of Brighton, lied about whether or not a sweatshirt found near the scene belonged to Bishop after the two girls were found dead in 1986.

On Thursday, she said: "I had no choice but to lie. I'm sorry, I hold my hands up, I'm sorry but I had no choice."

Karen Hadaway (left) and Nicola Fellows (right) were killed in Wild Park, Brighton, in 1986

Ms Johnson told the court Bishop had been her first boyfriend.

She said he used to pin her to the bed and regularly rape her.

Her counsel Chris Henley QC asked whether Bishop was consistently violent to her, and sexually abusive.

Ms Johnson replied "yes" to both questions.

The court heard Ms Johnson had said she was in fear he might kill her, and Mr Henley asked her: "Were you serious?"

Ms Johnson replied: "Deadly serious. He was capable of it."

Michelle Hadaway, Karen's mother, is attending the trial at Lewes Crown Court

Jurors heard Ms Johnson originally told police the sweatshirt belonged to Bishop, but she later asked police if she could change her story.

She said Bishop warned her he would "come after" her if she did not change the original statement.

After Mr Henley asked how she felt about the threats, she said: "I was upset, angry and annoyed because I knew what the consequences would be.

"He told me that every day until it was stuck in my head, and every day I told him, 'I can't'.

"I didn't have anybody, it was just me and my children."

She added: "I was young, naive and scared."

Jurors previously heard Ms Johnson first told police she recognised the sweatshirt but then denied it in a witness statement and at the trial.

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