I KNEW WHO KILLED MY LITTLE GIRL

Michelle Hadaway, 66, never gave up in her long fight to bring to justice the man who murdered her daughter

- FRANCES LEATE

You probably recognise the photo of my daughter Karen and her friend Nicola. You are probably familiar with their story and the terrifying ordeal they suffered before meeting a horrifying end. Their murder became known as the *Babes in the wood' case - something I never understood. Because what happened to them was in no way a fairy tale, it was the stuff of nightmares and something that has haunted me for more than three decades. And just five years ago, it all came flooding back once more, when their killer was finally brought to justice. 

It was October 1986 when Karen, nine, left our home for the final time. I was cooking her favourite dinner, a chicken pie, and she trotted out the front door to see her friend Nicola Fellows, who lived a few doors down. Karen's younger sister Lyndsey, then six, was out playing too. Our estate in Brighton, East Sussex, was friendly enough, we'd lived there years and knew everyone. My husband Lee, then 38, was away working, delivering furniture, and I was seven months pregnant with our fourth child. Our eldest Darren was away at school.

When the chicken pie was ready, 25 minutes later, I called for the girls, but only Lyndsey came running back. Leaving Lyndsey with my mum Maisie, then 52, who was staying at mine, I knocked at Nicola's, but her mum hadn't seen them since I had, so we headed out to look. When a group of boys ' said they'd seen them both playing by a tree at nearby Wild Park, I frowned. We went there as a family for picnics, but I'd told Karen not to go there without me.