Rape probe devastating, says father

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Barrie Fellows, 59, was arrested at his home in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, on suspicion of conspiracy to rape his daughter, Nicola, who was murdered in 1986 aged nine.

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

No-one was ever convicted over the killings which came to be known as the Babes in the Woods murders.

Labourer Russell Bishop, who knew both girls and their families, was charged but acquitted after the prosecution admitted 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 Brighton girl, but always denied killing Karen and Nicola.

Mr Fellows said a false allegation was made in 1987 by an ex-girlfriend of Bishop, which caused "massive distress" to him and his family.

He said: "I am absolutely devastated that the police have chosen to re-visit this false claim and arrest myself and another man. I will be seeking legal advice regarding false imprisonment and wrongful arrest. Not a day goes by when Nicola is not on my mind and in my family's thoughts."

Mr Fellows was released on bail after being questioned about alleged sex offences against the schoolgirl before her death, sources said.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said a 59-year-old man was arrested in Cheshire along with a 44-year-old man in Brighton who was arrested on suspicion of rape. Sources named him as family friend Douglas Judd.

A police spokeswoman said the investigation into sexual abuse allegations was unrelated to the ongoing murder inquiry.