Serial killer Levi Bellfield gives ‘very detailed confession’ of murdering Lin and Megan Russell in 1996

Michael Stone has twice been convicted of the murders of the mother and daughter but has always protested his innocence

Bellfield is in prison for the murder of Milly Dowler, where he made the alleged confession (PA)

Lawyers acting for the man convicted of murdering Lin and Megan Russell in Kent in 1996 say they have new evidence of his innocence, including a “very detailed confession” to the killings from serial killer Levi Bellfield.

Michael Stone has twice been convicted of the murders of the mother and daughter but has always protested his innocence.

Now his solicitor Paul Bacon has claimed Milly Dowler’s murderer Bellfield admitted the killings in prison.

Kent Police have said there was no evidence to support the claims and argued it was unfair on the victims to keep raising questions about the case.

They stressed that Stone had been found guilty by a jury on two separate occasions and the investigation had been re-examined by the Criminal Case Review Commission.

Mr Bacon, Stone’s solicitor, told a press conference in London: “We have now received evidence of a full confession by Levi Bellfield to the Russell murders.

Screengrab of Lin and Megan Russell (PA)

“In the confession, Bellfield describes how he came across Lin Russell and her two children, how he attacked them with a hammer and his motivation for the killing.

“The confession is detailed and has a number of facts which are not in the public domain.”

Stone is serving three life-sentences for bludgeoning Lin Russell, 45, and Megan, six, to death in an attack near Chillenden in which her other daughter, Josie, nine, suffered severe head injuries and the family’s dog, Lucy, was killed.

It is not the first time Stone’s legal representatives have pointed the finger at Bellfield.

In 2011, Mr Bacon claimed Dowler’s killer was a better match for the e-fit of the suspect issued during the police manhunt.

Bellfield, who now calls himself Yusuf Rahim, is serving a whole-life tariff after being found guilty at the Old Bailey of abducting and killing the schoolgirl Milly. He was jailed in 2011.

The 13-year-old was snatched from the street while on her way home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in March 2002.

Bellfield was already in jail for the murders of Amelie Delagrange and Marsha McDonnell, and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy.

Michael Stone’s legal team (left to right) barrister Mark McDonald, solicitor Paul Bacon and Barbara Stone, his sister, during a press conference in London (PA)

In 2008 he had been given a whole-life term for murdering Ms McDonnell, 19, in 2003, and murdering Ms Delagrange, 22, and attempting to murder Ms Sheedy, 18, in 2004.

Assistant Chief Constable for the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, Nick Downing, said: “We feel it is no longer contemporaneous and is unfair on the victims to continue to raise questions or re-release details about the murder investigation and subsequent conviction of Michael Stone.

“Following two trials at which Stone was found guilty by a jury on both occasions, and an appeal to the High Court, Michael Stone remains convicted of the murders of Lin and Megan Russell, and the attempted murder of Josie Russell in 1996.

“The Criminal Case Review Commission re-examined the murder investigation and had access to all forensic evidence, documentation and exhibits from the original investigation, the review by another force, details of the two Crown Court trials and appeals to the High Court.

“Furthermore, Michael Stone made an application to apply for a Judicial Review in respect of his conviction in September 2012. The Honourable Mr Justice Blake ordered that permission for the application should be refused.

“In addition, a comprehensive investigation carried out by the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations Levi Bellfield was involved in crimes for which is he yet to be convicted concluded there is no evidence to support those claims.”

Agencies contributed to this report