A woman who is on trial for perjury admits that she lied on oath at a trial when her boyfriend was cleared of the Babes in the Wood murders.
Jennie Johnson, also known as Jennifer Robinson, now accepts that she lied in a witness statement and when she gave evidence on oath, according to Alison Morgan, prosecuting at Lewes Crown Court.
Miss Morgan told the jury: “Bishop was the father of her children and was tried after the bodies of two young girls were found in woodland in Brighton.
“A key garment in the trial was a sweatshirt, known as DE1. Initially, Johnson told the police that the sweatshirt belonged to Bishop.
“But in a later witness statement and at the trial, Johnson denied that she had ever seen the sweatshirt.
“She now accepts that she lied in that witness statement and when she gave evidence on oath.
“Bishop was acquitted of the offences of murder.
“Three years later Bishop kidnapped, sexually assaulted and tried to kill another young girl. He was convicted and jailed for life.
“After a change in the law, the investigation into the murder of the two schoolgirls was reopened.
“Bishop was convicted of their murders in December 2018.”
The jury, made up of seven men and five women, will decide whether Johnson is guilty of perjury and perverting justice over her evidence in the 1987 trial at Lewes Crown Court.
Johnson, 55, a carer, of Saunders Park View, Brighton, denies perjury and perverting justice when she lied to protect her boyfriend Russell Bishop during his trial for the 1986 murders.
Bishop, who was cleared 34 years ago, was jailed for life in December 2018 for the murder of nine-year-olds Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows in Wild Park in Moulsecoomb.
A High Court judge Sir Peter Fraser, known as Mr Justice Fraser, is presiding over the trial which is expected to last about four weeks.
