Michael Stone dealt blow in bid to overturn conviction for Chillenden murders

13 July 2023 , 16:37

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Michael Stone was found guilty of the murders of Lin and Megan Russell and the attempted murder of Josie in 1996 (Image: Press Association)

Michael Stone has been dealt a fresh blow in his bid to overturn his conviction for the notorious Chillenden murders.

The inmate was 37 when he was handed three life sentences for bludgeoning Dr Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan to death with a hammer in 1996.

But he has always maintained his innocence and last month Milly Dowler killer Levi Bellfield, 54, claimed to be behind the violent attack that also left nine-year-old Josie Russell with severe head injuries.

Now Stone, 62, has been told by the Criminal Case Review Commission they will not refer his case back to the Court of Appeal.

Stone's legal team last night said it was "utterly astonishing" his conviction would not be tested again in the courts.

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A statement released by barristers Mark McDonald and Paul Bacon said: "We find the decision by the CCRC utterly astonishing.

Lin Russell and daughter Josie, who suffered severe injuries in the 1996 attack (PA)

"What more can a person do to prove their innocence than another man confessing to the crime?"

Stone was jailed for a minimum of 25 years in 1998 and is eligible for release now after completing his sentence.

But he says that he is refusing to seek parole until his conviction for the murders, which took place in Chillenden, Kent, is quashed.

Stone's legal team have urged police to launch a fresh probe, while Bellfield's solicitor says he has admitted his guilt to the Chillenden murders and that of student Elizabeth Chau, 19, who vanished in 1999 from as she walked home from university in west London.

Stone's legal team said: "Levi Belfield has made numerous statements confessing to this awful crime. But the CCRC say they don’t believe him.

"They give as their main reason that in the past he has confessed to other crimes and the police don’t believe him.

"But we question the motivation behind the police and whether in fact they are investigating Belfield’s confessions to past murders. He recently confessed to the murder of Elizabeth Chau.

Stone is serving three life sentences for bludgeoning Lin Russell and her daughter Megan, six, to death in an attack near Chillenden in Kent in 1996 in which her other daughter, Josie, nine, suffered severe head injuries (PA)

"He has told the police where he buried the body, he even drew a map and put an x in the spot. But the police refuse to dig up the area. Why? Because to do so is to say they believe Bellfield and this will totally undermine their view that Bellfield is lying when confessing to the Russell murders."

Lin, 45, and Megan were beaten to death in July 1996, as they walked home from a swimming gala.

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The family's dog, Lucy, was also killed. Josie, now in her 30s and a textile artist in Wales, suffered severe injuries that affected her speech.

Stone was arrested a year after Lin and Megan's murders on unrelated charges, when he is alleged to have confessed to fellow prisoner Damien Daley in Canterbury prison.

Last month Stone's solicitor, Paul Bacon, confirmed that Bellfield had written and signed a fresh confession to the murders.

And last night Stone's legal team said: "There is no identification evidence against Stone, no forensic evidence."His conviction rests on the testimony of one man, Damien Daley, a proven liar.

Josie Russell with her father Shaun (PA)

"A man who the prosecution dropped two serious offences against him before he gave his evidence against Stone.

"Daley later went on to be convicted of murder and is now serving life."

A spokesman for the CCRC said: “Where a jury has chosen to convict a defendant, the Court of Appeal will only interfere if it can be shown that the conviction is unsafe.

"Our role is not to retry a case, but to consider whether there is new evidence or argument which may lead to a real possibility that the Court of Appeal would quash the conviction.

“We have identified no new evidence or information that raises a real possibility that Mr Stone’s conviction would not be upheld upon a reference to the Court of Appeal.”

Dan Warburton