Ex-girlfriend of 'Babes in the Wood' killer who lied in court jailed
Special video report by ITV News Meridian's Charlotte Wilkins on how one woman's lies set a guilty man free
The ex-girlfriend of the killer of two young girls in Brighton in the 80s has been jailed for six years for lying in court.
Russell Bishop sexually assaulted and strangled Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in a woodland den in Brighton in 1986.
In a trial in 1987, Bishop was acquitted of murder.
His girlfriend at the time, Jenny Johnson, identified a blue pinto jumper found close to the scene as belonging to Bishop during the trial.
However she later changed her statement and lied under oath to protect him.
Bishop was later jailed in 2018 after new DNA evidence came to light, and was convicted of the killings of Karen and Nicola, and jailed for life with a minimum term of 36 years.
In April 2021, Jenny Johnson went on trial charged with perjury and perverting the course of justice.
Johnson's defence was that she lied because she feared for her life, stemming from a relationship with Bishop that was described as 'violent'.
However on Monday (17 May) a jury found Johnson guilty of both counts via a majority verdict.
Jennifer Johnson had declined to attend Lewes Crown Court for her sentencing on Wednesday (19 May).
Chris Henley QC, for the defence, spoke of the "real punishment" Johnson has suffered over the last three decades.
He told the court: "She was a vulnerable young mother in 1987 - the mother of two very young children living a very socially isolated life and in a relationship with a violent, abusive and coercive man."
Mr Henley also criticised the idea that the 1987 trial resulted in not guilty verdicts directly because of the evidence she gave about the blue Pinto sweatshirt.
Michelle Hadaway, Karen's mother, told the judge that Johnson's lies in 1987 left her "completely numb to the core".
She said: "She [Johnson] just constantly lied and lied and lied and lied. What can you do about a person?
"The impact that she's had on my has been absolutely as bad as him because we fought for 32 years to get him to justice and then we've had to go through this court case again, so unnecessary when all those years ago she could have told the truth."