this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at eight... president trump's former national security adviser pleads guilty to lying to fbi agents. the first secretary of state, damian green, denies new allegations that he watched pornography on his house of commons computer. european council president donald tusk says the eu will not accept the uk brexit offer if ireland disagrees. a man has beenjailed for life for murdering his 19—month—old stepson nearly 50 years ago. also coming up — hundreds turn out to cheer prince harry and meghan markle. the newly engaged royal couple went to nottingham for their first official visit together. gearing up for a summer of world cup football — maradona hands england a comfortable draw for russia 2018. and at half past eight, a special bbc wales investigation into the murders of lin and megan russell 20 years ago.

good evening and welcome to bbc news. one of president trump's closest confidants. his former national security advisor, michael flynn, has pleaded guilty to lying to fbi agents as part of the investigation into alleged russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. mr flynn is the most senior former official to be charged in the investigation so far. but the white house says the guilty plea doesn't implicate anyone else except him. from washington, here's our correspondent, aleem maqbool. it has sent political shock waves through washington. general michael flynn, donald trump's former national security adviser,

turned himself in to the fbi, and to a judge admitted lying about his contacts with russian officials. general michael flynn! michael flynn developed a close relationship with donald trump during the election campaign, at one point, he was talked of as a potential vice—president. a truly great general. mike, thank you. at the republican national convention, he famously led chanting for hillary clinton to be imprisoned. lock her up! all the focus now is on the mistake michael flynn made after donald trump's win at the polls, when barack obama was still in office and had imposed sanctions on russia for interfering with the us election.

on 29th december, michael flynn spoke to the russian ambassador on the phone in the first of a series of calls. on 15th january, vice—president mike pence said sanctions were not discussed by michael flynn in those calls. only after 9th february, when a newspaper revealed general flynn did discuss sanctions when he was not organised to do so, did pressure increase and michael flynn lost his job. michael flynn then became one of those investigated by the special counsel into russia's attempts to influence the election and the potential collusion with the trump campaign. this is unquestionably the biggest moment of the russia investigation. michael flynn is the most senior member of donald trump's team to be indicted, and is accused of lying to fbi agents while still serving the white house. most importantly, we now believe michael flynn will testify that he was directed to talk to the russian ambassador when he was not supposed

to by a senior official in donald trump's transition team, bringing this investigation ever closer to the president himself. aleem maqbool, washington. let's get more insight into this story. james grimaldi is an investigative reporter for the wall street journal, who has been looking into michael flynn's background and hejoins us now from our washington bureau. thank you very much forjoining us. what do you deduce from this plea today? i think the key fact is that he is cooperating and the charge that was made against him was rather lenient, considering all of the things he has admitted to. there we re things he has admitted to. there were a number of charges they could have brought. that indicates he must have brought. that indicates he must have some kind of substantial evidence that would warrant this kind of plea deal. that would mean that they probably have something on biggerfish in the that they probably have something on bigger fish in the white house. that they probably have something on biggerfish in the white house. that is rather an ominous development for

the trump white house. second, in terms of even lying to the fbi in terms of even lying to the fbi in terms of even lying to the fbi in terms of this plea deal, the question is, what he told to? who told him? the president? jared kushner, his son—in—law and close adviser to the president? there are adviser to the president? there are a lot more shoes to drop on this one. how key a piece on this will michael flynn b. it depends on how credible he is as a witness against others. what kind of evidence he had brought with him. does he have e—mails? there was an indication in the plea agreement that he had agreed to call their surveillance. so in this period in which he was discussing a plea deal with the fbi and the time it was announced today, the question might be, was he

wearing a wire? and if he were wearing a wire? and if he were wearing undercover surveillance devices, who was it with? it depends on how credible he would come across toajury if on how credible he would come across to a jury if he ends up actually testifying in a court of law. the white house say that this means nothing other than michael flynn has made an admission and does not implicate anyone else. it is factually accurate, in fact. but it excludes the obvious implications of a plea deal. it is somewhat disingenuous in the fact that it does not include the fact that he is cooperating and he could provide state evidence against other parties. like i said, it is factually accurate on his face but it excludes the idea that you do not make a deal with a person like mike

flynn, who is so high in the white house, without some understanding on agreement that he would be providing compelling evidence against other, biggerfish in this investigation. it is perhaps safer further metre askew, who doesn't need to worry? who does not need to worry? well, my mailman, my dog, tommy, i don't know. these investigations always leads to where they lead, don't they? it is hard to know. probably they? it is hard to know. probably the people who are cooperating. anyone who didn't like the fbi doesn't have anything to worry about. that is really a major mistake that mr flynn made when he was talking to the fbi injanuary about something that happened in december, about conversations with the russian ambassador. and to think the russian ambassador. and to think the russian ambassador was not regularly being taped, wired

recorded by the federal government and that he would not be able to... there was some way he could get out of lying to the fbi. it shows a degree of foolishness, i think. that raises the question, why would he lie on those things? was he told to lie? does this lead to the president oi’ someone lie? does this lead to the president or someone else? i agree, you just don't know. according to the mandate of the special counsel, he is to investigate the russian meddling into the election and anything else that comes up in his investigation that comes up in his investigation thatis that comes up in his investigation that is even somewhat related that matter. —— to that matter. that is even somewhat related that matter. -- to that matter. james, thank you very much. you're welcome. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10.40 this evening in the papers. our guestsjoining me tonight are the writer and broadcaster lynn faulds wood and rachel cunliffe, comment and features editor at city am. breaking news regarding the suicide

ofa breaking news regarding the suicide of a fore—mac bosnian croat minister who killed himself at the un's international criminal tribunal on wednesday. dutch prosecutors say that he died from potassium cyanide poisoning. the un itself is looking into the conduct... it is looking to conduct its own review into how this last ever defendant in the tribunal for the former yugoslavia was able to poison himself whilst in the dock. a separate dutch criminal investigation is looking into possible offences that allowed his death to happen. the fore—mac bosnian croat military leader, slobodan praljak, died as a result of taking potassium cyanide. theresa may's deputy — damian green, the first secretary of state —

is under renewed pressure tonight after claims that he accessed pornography on his commons computer. a retired detective says he found "thousands" of pornographic images on a computer in mr green's office nine years ago and that it was "ridiculous" to suggest that anyone else could be responsible. mr green has again insisted that the allegations are false. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw has this exclusive report. he's theresa may's oldest and most trusted political ally, now battling for cabinet survival over claims he watched pornography on his work computer. can i ask you to leave? is that possible? the allegations, which he denies, centre on computers seized in this police raid over leaked documents from the home office. now, a detective involved in the enquiry has given his account of what he discovered. i had ihad an i had an exemplary record. neil lewis spent 25 years in the metropolitan police before retiring due to ill health. he has multiple sclerosis. in 2008, was given the task of examining damian green's work computer. the shocking thing was that

as i was viewing, i noticed a lot of pornography thumbnails, which indicated web browsing. but a lot. there was a lot of them. how many images did you see on that? thousands. thousands of pornographic images? thumbnail images. this is the one note that you kept. neil lewis still has his notebook from the time, detailing what he saw on the computer. there is a reference to briefing officers about pornography. he claims two other detectives also saw the material. it was legal and not extreme, he said. similar images were also seen on a laptop, he claimed. how can you be sure that it was damian green who was accessing that pornography? there's a sort of phrase, "you can't put fingers on a keyboard". so i can't say that.

but the computer was in mr green's office, on his desk, logged in, his account, his name. in between browsing pornography, he was sending e—mails from his account, his personal account. reading documents, writing documents. and it was just impossible. it was sort of exclusive and extensive, that it was ridiculous to suggest that anybody else could have done it. outside his home in kent today, damian green protested his innocence. a cabinet office enquiry has been examining his conduct. mr green... i've said that i'm not commenting any further while the investigation is going on. i've maintained all along, i still maintain, it is the truth, that i didn't download or look at pornography on my computer. but obviously while the

investigation is going on i can't say any more at the moment. one of mr green's colleagues in parliament rallied to his defence, saying the detective's account didn't add up. the pattern of behaviour he describes seems to me entirely inconsistent with the normal pattern of behaviour of an mp in parliament. we simply do not have hours to sit in front of our computers and browse leisure websites, of whatever variety. did you look at pornography at all? there are now questions about how apparently confidential information about damian green's computers was made public. scotland yard is looking into it. danny shaw, bbc news. german police have found and defused an explosive device in the city of potsdam. police had earlier cordoned off the area and the nearby christmas market after being alerted about a suspicious object delivered to a pharmacy in the area. the irish prime minister has pressed

the british government again to come up with a new plan on the issue of the irish border after brexit. leo varadkar‘s comments followed a meeting with the president of the european council donald tusk, who said he was "fully behind" the dublin government's request. mr varadkar said the next couple of days "will be crucial" if the uk wants to move onto the next phase of negotiations over trade and the future relationship with the eu. our correspondent chris page has been in dublin for us. donald tusk, president of the european council, met for about an hourin european council, met for about an hour in government buildings behind me in dublin. there was a very strong show of unity between the two of them on the face of it. donald tusk said that if the uk... on the irish border, the big issue is that both sides do not want more controls on the irish border. there is a big if as an opinion over how that can

be achieved. donald tusk said if the uk offer on the border was unacceptable for ireland, it would also be unacceptable for the eu. even also be unacceptable for the eu. eve n we nt also be unacceptable for the eu. even went as far as to say that the key to the uk's future lies it, in some way is, in dublin, as long as brexit talks continue. ireland enjoys singing off the same hymn sheet as them when it comes to these talks. the irish prime minister could not have had a stronger endorsement of that by donald tusk. leo varadkar setting out the position that they think the best way to avoid a hard border in ireland would be for the uk to stain the customs union. he acknowledged the customs union. he acknowledged the uk indicated it would not do that. he said in the absence of the uk staying in the customs union, the uk staying in the customs union, the uk had to come forward with some other workable solution and he wants a written assurance and guarantee, users, that would convince the irish government that there is a way to

avoid a hard border on the island of ireland before that you moved to the next phase of brexit negotiations, focusing on trade. the critical thing on this is the summit of eu leaders on the 14th and 15th of december. just under a fortnight away, the pressure is on. the headlines on bbc news... president trump's former national security adviser pleads guilty to lying to fbi agents. the first secretary of state damian green denies new allegations that he watched pornography on his house of commons computer. european council president donald tusk says the eu will not accept the uk brexit offer if ireland disagrees. sport now, time for a full round up from the bbc sport centre. two relatively familiar faces. two relatively familiarfaces. one tea m two relatively familiarfaces. one team who have never before been to world cup. england now know their

opponents in the russia 2018 group stage after the draw today in moscow. the consensus is it is pretty kind, with games against belgium, tunisia and panama. some relief at avoiding likes of germany, brazil and argentina for now at least. here is the group g schedule with a match against ec did team, belgium, who england beat in the 1990 world cup. the third of three. before that, panama. england's campaign begins on the 18th ofjune against tunisia. they also play first —— plate them first in france 98. in the team that day was gareth southgate. it was the first thing that went through my mind. it was a fantastic day as a player. brilliant occasion. the fans made that day. nice to relive that. what sort of a sign are they? we have to find it out? we haven't done as much research on the african teams. now

is the opportunity. now that we know we're playing, we can start to focus in on that. how important is it that you have quite a sizeable break, six days between that game and the new boys, panama ? days between that game and the new boys, panama? yes. again, little bit of travelling and that gives us the opportunity for a couple of injuries, if you get them, to clean up. you're grateful for as injuries, if you get them, to clean up. you're gratefulfor as much preparation time as possible for the game. people will already write of panama for the finals but people said that about costa rica format usable. yes, but we have been good at being beaten by those teams! it is exciting to be heard another draw with other coaches. really looking forward to getting on with it. the man who began england's qualifying campaign at the helm, sam allardyce, started his new job campaign at the helm, sam allardyce, started his newjob at everton. they are told to tomorrow. despite

retiring from management in the summer, he said he did not hesitate to ta ke summer, he said he did not hesitate to take a job with a team currently struggling in the premier league.|j got morejobs when struggling in the premier league.|j got more jobs when i struggling in the premier league.|j got morejobs when i said i was retired and i had previously done my life. finally, everton came along. in the end, it was done within 48 hours. with me being in dubai. england will have some decisions to make in the morning ahead of the second ashes test. they have named 12 players in the match in adelaide with craig gordon included. —— craig overton. moeen ali bowled in the nets on friday despite an injured finger but he might only be fit to bat in adelaide. the decision was to have an extra date arrested. -- day to rest it. we will look at it after

that season is any more damage damage and make a decision from there. at the end of that, we will have a clear indication as to whether he will be fit to bowl. otherwise, he could still play as a batter. you can follow the commentary on five live sports extra and the bbc‘s box website. coverage begins at 2:55 a:m.. it is an early start in adelaide our time. in brisbane, the slightly more respectable nine a:m., the rugby league world cup final. sam burgess will captain the hosts. england hope to win a world title for the first time. it is not ideal to lose sean. years been a huge part in our success to lose sean. years been a huge part in oui’ success over to lose sean. years been a huge part in our success over the last few yea rs. in our success over the last few years. it is not ideal to lose him. —— he has been. i am super excited and proud to captain the team

tomorrow. i do not take thejob lightly. i really enjoy doing it. if iam lightly. i really enjoy doing it. if i am honest, lightly. i really enjoy doing it. if iam honest, not lightly. i really enjoy doing it. if i am honest, not a lot will have changed model for me. we have a group of great players and a full squad, staff, everyone. we have our role to do tomorrow. england's first rugby league world cup final in 22 yea rs rugby league world cup final in 22 years is live on bbc one. the build—up from brisbane starts at half past eight. that is all the sport from now. —— for now. much more in the next hour. thank you very much. a 71—year—old man has beenjailed for murdering his toddler stepson almost 50 years ago. david dearlove swung the one—year—old child by his ankles and hit his head on a fireplace in 1968. for decades, dearlove lied about what had happened. but then a photo posted on facebook led to the investigation being reopened, as danny savage explains. this picture triggered a murder trial. it shows a man called david dearlove with his stepson, paul booth. when this image was posted

on facebook, paul's now adult brother went to police, telling them dearlove had murdered the toddler and he had witnessed it. the 21—year—old dearlove in the photo is now 71. almost 50 years later, he was today convicted of murder. back in the late 1960s, he lived with the boys' mother in this house in stockton. on the night he killed his stepson in the living room, he claimed the boy's injuries were accidental, but his three—year—old brother, peter, saw what really happened. he'd crept downstairs for a drink, and through a gap in the living room door saw dearlove swinging paul violently by the ankles and cracking his head against the fireplace, causing fatal injuries. nearly half a century later, what peter booth sawjust before his fourth birthday has convicted his stepfather of murder. dearlove said paul had received the injuries by falling out of bed. had he fallen out of bed

and fractured his skull, that would have resulted in a straight line fracture. in this case, we had a fracture that was a z shape and crossed two plates in the skull, and that wasn't consistent with him having simply fallen and hit his head against an object such as a hard floor. a lot of the lines of enquiry we are used to in this day and age, digital enquiries, phone works, forensics, stuff like that didn't exist. we didn't have a body in this case, we didn't have a scene, a lot of the witnesses were dead, so it was quite challenging. paul booth‘s brother and sister had to relive childhood ordeals and trauma to getjustice for him. thejudge said dearlove made the children's lives a misery, and jailed him for a minimum of 13 years. danny savage, bbc news, teesside. the royal bank of scotland has announced it's to close 259 rbs and natwest branches, with the loss of 680 jobs. the state—owned company said more people are now choosing to bank via computers and mobile phones.

our personal finance correspondent simon gompertz reports. the cull of bank branches is speeding up. this one is on the list in stockwell in london. it's the biggest closure programme rbs—natwest has ever announced. they've closed our post office. there is nowhere for anybody to go. we have no other banks in this area at all. well, we need it. it's very useful to this area. we are getting a bit more modern, aren't we? i guess we have to roll with the times. there are 58 branches going in london and the south—east. 62 in scotland, in wales and the south—west, 69. many more in the midlands and the north of england. here's the reason. so many of us are doing our banking on mobile phones instead or the internet. but there will still be an impact. the people most affected are the ones who can't access online banking because they live in areas

with poor mobile connection or poor broadband. and people who don't want to engage with online banking. people who are maybe older, more vulnerable or simply don't trust those systems and prefer to bank face—to—face. here, they're promising to keep the cashpoint going. the rest shuts in six months. rbs—natwest says that most of its customers don't go into a branch more than once every three months whereas it's getting 3500 log—ins per minute from people using mobile phones to do banking. so the question is, should they be keeping more of these open for the people who still want them, even though the bank says they're uneconomic? remember, in 2008, the british taxpayer bailed out rbs. we still own 71%. it's a british bank owned by the british people. but they've not been consulted about these branch closures or job losses. we want the banks to provide a service to the public. a service to the communities. if we own the bank, we should have some say in whether branches

stay open or are closed. this rbs branch near inverness is another one going — it's a heavy blow for customers in less populated areas. there will be no banks in the area, there is none in the next village or the next two for that matter. the village has been developing, a lot of people have been doing things — it will be hard to understand they'll have no bank in the village. rbs says it's providing banks on wheels in remote places and community bankers to help customers find services after the closures. but this is the end for hundreds more branches that people have depended on. thousands of morrisons staff whose personal details were posted on the internet have won their case for compensation from the supermarket. it follows a security breach three years ago which leaked personal and payroll information. morrisons argued it could not be held directly liable but the high court ruled against them.

the supermarket has been given permission to appeal. prince harry and his fiancee meghan markle have carried out their first official public engagement since they announced they were getting married earlier this week. the couple were greeted by crowds of well—wishers in nottingham as they visited a world aids day charity fair and then met local teachers and children at a school nearby. from nottingham, here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. as an actress, she's been used to a public stage. she's accustomed to meeting crowds and dealing with fans. little surprise, then, that meghan markle handled her first official public appearance in her new role with considerable confidence. husband—to—be was on hand, solicitous and supportive, with a lot of eye contact between them and supportive arms going around each other‘s backs. at times, they met the crowds together, but then meghan branched off on her own, stopping and taking time with people.

while harry did the same thing on his side of the street. moments later, they were reunited, the cue for more back—rubbing. this clearly is a team effort and the new recruit seems a natural. she will do hundreds and hundreds of events like this in the years to come, but she will remember this one, her first official encounter with the british public. and the verdict on her performance? i think she's great. a good addition to the royal family. definitely. yeah. an american. go, mixed kids! yeah, mixed kids in the royal family now. it was just fabulous and we're just so excited that they've come to nottingham for their first public appearance and we're very excited about the wedding in may. the couple heard about the work of the terrence higgins trust, the charity which has worked for years to help people it's a cause harry, now with meghan, wants to take forward in tribute to his late mother.

at a local college, they heard about the effort to help young people keep out of trouble, serious issues to which harry, through a charitable trust, is devoting serious attention. but for all that, there was no doubt who sparkled the most today — the woman with the diamond. i saw her ring and the diamond is massive! it's absolutely gorgeous. just knowing that you're sitting near meghan and prince harry, it'sjaw—dropping, it's really nice. a glittering future, then? it certainly seems to augur well. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather forecast. after a quite dramatic spell of weather, certainly for other and eastern parts of the british isles, something a bit quieter into the weekend. this will be quite a

familiar pattern. high pressure to the west, feeding in relatively milderairthan many of the west, feeding in relatively milder air than many of us have seen of late. that does not mean we are infor of late. that does not mean we are in for the newly waived by any means. it will take time before the malvinas pushed right down past the british isles. —— before the mild air. some sunshine roundabout the solway. generally speaking, more than a way of loud across more than western parts of the uk. rain in the north, scattered showers across wales and the south—west of england. if you are late in the evening, a lot of you will be dry, save for scotla nd lot of you will be dry, save for scotland in the form of of england. sunday, remnants of the front still dragging flowed half of the uk but brighterfurther north. this is bbc news, our latest headlines. president trump's former national security adviser, michael flynn, has pleaded guilty to making false and fraudulent statements to fbi

agents about his contact with russia's ambassador. theresa may's deputy — the first secretary of state, damian green — has denied downloading or viewing pornography on his parliamentary computer. eu council president donald tusk says the european union will not the president of the european council donald tusk has said the eu stands by the irish republic's insistence on there being no hard border with northern ireland after brexit a 71 —year—old man has beenjailed at teesside crown court for life for the murder of his stepson nearly 50 years ago. and hundreds of people cheer prince harry and meghan markle — on their first official public visit since announcing their engagement. 20 years ago, michael stone was convicted of one of the most notorious crimes in britain — the brutal murders of lin and megan russell and the attempted murder ofjosie. bbc wales investigates new evidence suggesting that serial killer levi bellfield could be responsible. an idyllic setting.

but 21 years ago, that tranquillity was shattered. the bodies of a ao—year—old woman and her daughter were found on farmland on the outskirts of chillenden near dover. the russell family from north wales — lin, megan and josie — were savagely attacked by a man with a hammer. nine—year—old josie was left for dead at this isolated spot in the kent countryside on the 9th ofjuly, 1996. she had been walking along this country lane with her mum, lin, and six—year—old sister, megan. they were going home, just on the other side of this copse. michael stone was convicted

of the murders but he's always protested his innocence. now, notorious serial killer levi bellfield has allegedly confessed to another prisoner, saying it was him that attacked the russell family. he said, "i've never told anyone this before. i killed another child and got away with it. the police were never even close." the fellow prisoner — himself convicted of serious offences — says bellfield confessed to him in a series of conversations earlier this year. he wishes to remain anonymous, and his words have been re—voiced. levi bellfield was vocal and excited to tell me how "free" it made him feel by being able to tell me

a secret he'd kept for 20 years. bellfield and the other prisoner are said to have had several conversations. bellfield is alleged to have gone into graphic detail and even drawn a map of the murder scene. what makes this alleged confession credible is, as far as we can tell, it appears to contain some detail only very few people would be aware of — such as the police — and the killer himself. the alleged confession was prompted by a tv documentary broadcast in the summer about the attacks on the russells. he said, in the minutes leading up to the programme, he was physically, uncontrollably shaking and put it down to being anxious about watching the programme. in the alleged confession, bellfield says he attacked the russell family as they walked

home from a swimming gala. lin and megan were bludgeoned to death by their attacker, the family dog also killed. that one's quite heavy. josie was assumed to be dead but she was found to have a faint pulse. despite suffering horrific injuries, josie survived. within months of the attack, josie and herfather, shaun, had moved from kent back to the nantlle valley in north wales. they have always been led to believe that michael stone carried out the horrific attack on the 9th ofjuly, 1996. my main emotion is one of relief — that it's all over at least — and that the verdict is what i consider a good one. but stone's legal team say bellfield's alleged confession calls

into question that verdict. we have in detail, at length, exactly what bellfield did at the time he was doing the murders in relation to the russells. barrister mark mcdonald represents stone, and he believes bellfield's alleged confession is credible and significant. this is not, "let me sit down and tell you a story." this is a number of discussions that took place over a number of days, with drawings. he supports the narrative, the confession if i can put it that way with and, and let me tell you where i was with x marks the spot and this is what i did. so again it all goes to the credibility of the confession. in the alleged confession,

bellfield goes into detail of how he attacked the russell family. on the day of the russells‘ murders, he said he had simply noticed them walking by chance so stopped. he said he approached them with his hammer in hand he said he had "pulverised josie" and was surprised she lived. mcdonnell — after striking them from behind with a hammer. he was also convicted of the notorious killing of schoolgirl milly dowler. colin sutton led the murder inquiry which helped to convict bellfield,

and the more we looked at him and what was known about him, the more he became a likely suspect and it sort of went from there. does the retired detective think levi bellfield could be capable of the attack on the russells? the similarities you've got are a woman in a quiet location, a blitz attack with something heavy and blunt like a hammer. for no apparent reason, no previous interaction between them as far as we know. and that, in itself, you know, just those features make it an extremely rare crime. and because of that there is the natural tendency to look at, well, who else do we know who's committed crimes that have got these very rare features and very rare mo?

and of course you end up looking at bellfield. in the absence of other facts he would be a good suspect. levi bellfield and michael stone are in the same prison in durham. and bellfield told us stone has made several attempts to get him to admit to the attack on the russells. stone denies this. in his alleged confession, bellfield admits he began offending as far back as the 1980s. the attack on the russells was in 1996 and some of those closest to him at the time had already become increasingly suspicious about him. this picture of me on my horse and levi was taken at the yateley horse show in hampshire. what's the significance of that? levi said he had never been to that area and obviously the picture puts him there but that's where milly dowler‘s body was found. johanna collings was bellfield's

girlfriend in the mid—90s, living with her in her parents‘ house in south west london. she had become increasingly worried about bellfield's behaviour. i found a magazine once in a bin liner in a garage — a vogue/cosmopolitan kind of thing. and all the pictures of dark haired girls, nothing. all the blondes, he'd stabbed their faces, slashed them. did you ever challenge him? oh, yes, i did, cos my dad's donkey jacket was in there and he'd cut the inside of the pocket out and there was a balaclava and a big carving knife. and when i found it, and i pulled him on it, he went mad. what was he using this balaclava and jacket? he used to go down the alleyway where we lived in strawberry hill. once you get in by the station, you couldn't get out? and that was one of his hunting grounds. he used to go and wait for people to see if he could get someone down there.

and this was when? end of1996, wintertime. do you believe he was responsible for other murders? yes, i do. fully believe he definitely killed more. joanna's concerns about bellfield's behaviour emerged in 1996 — the same year the russells were murdered. there's no doubt bellfield had a violent past, but what about michael stone? one of the reasons kent police suspected him of killing the russells was his previous convictions. he'd been found guilty of a hammer attack in 1983 and sentenced to four years. i wanted to ask him about his violent past, and he agreed to speak to me from jail. you've got again a track record of violence. you hit a man with a hammer.

you've got a... yeah, but... it's just desperate to link me to the crime, but it's not even similar. i went to the house of someone who i found out was like messing about with people and i went to threaten him not to do it, you know, and he grabbed my throat. i t wasn't a hammer, it was a mallet to strike him with it to get him off my neck. it's nothing like attacking a child or a mother and child. just five days before the attack on the russells, stone made threats to kill his former probation officer and the officer's family. it doesn't matter what people think of me. it's not about whether i'm good or bad. anything else what they say about me is irrelevant to the basic question of who was there on the day murdering those people? as well as the alleged confession, a new eyewitness has come forward and actually identified levi bellfield near to the murder scene — driving a ford car,

similar to the one described by other witnesses. the new witness, who doesn't want to be identified, says she was driving between 4:15pm and 4:50pm on the day the russells were attacked, july 9th, 1996. her attention was drawn to a car, which failed to slow down at this junction. the car accelerated harshly with the tyres screeching, and i heard the gears crunch as a gear change was made. a month later, she gave a statement to police in which she said the car was a ford sierra, or escort. she says it was driven by a man with slightly tanned skin, an ovalface, and aged between 35 and 50. but what struck her was what the man was wearing on that summer's day. he was wearing a brown blouson jacket with a stand up collar, which was chunky.

he sat tall in his seat. the top of his head was obscured by the driver's sun visor. to me, it seemed strange that he was wearing a jacket done up as the day was warm and muggy. after reporting this to police in the summer of 1996, the eyewitness thought little more of it until she saw a documentary about the murder of millie dowler last year and then she was able to identify the man she'd seen 20 years earlier driving erratically. a picture came up on the screen and it shocked me, stunned me. with exactly the collar, type of high collar, coat i described to police on the day of my statement. it was a photograph of levi bellfield. there were other witnesses on the day of the murders, but their evidence of a man seen acting suspiciously is inconsistent.

indeed, some reported seeing two, or three, people in the area. with the investigation stalling, police turned to crimewatch for help. a little later, a local resident had to slow down as a car pulled out in front of her. it was coming from the direction of the murder scene. that witness who followed the car helped police to put together an e—fit of a man she saw driving away from the murder scene. that same e—fit helped police to identify stone as a suspect for the first time. josie confirmed the e—fit was a good likeness of the man who attacked her but didn't pick michael stone out at an id parade. neither did the eye—witness responsible for the e—fit but she did say "he looks very familiar".