Serial killer Levi Bellfield’s ex-girlfriend has dismissed his jail cell claims to be the man behind the notorious Chillenden murders in Kent.

The infamous murderer had last year confessed to being responsible for bludgeoning Lin and Megan Russell to death with a hammer in June 1996.

The alleged admission cast more doubt on the conviction of Michael Stone, who is serving three life sentences for the killings but has always professed his innocence.

However, in a new documentary about Bellfield, his former partner Johanna Collings says the killer’s confession is "all lies".

She said the Russells were murdered on her birthday and he had spent all day by her side.

Speaking to Serial Killer, Serial Liar: Levi Bellfield - A Faking It Special, she said: "They were killed on July 9, 1996 and that date is my birthday.

"And on July 9, 1996, we spent the whole day together from when we got up to when we went to bed that night. He never left my side.

"There is absolutely no way Levi could have killed Lin and Megan Russell. Levi's lying, you know. It's all about control."

Stone pleaded not guilty to the Russell murders in 1997 but was convicted at Maidstone Crown Court despite a lack of forensic evidence.

The prosecution case hinged on a confession Stone reportedly made to another inmate - the now-convicted killer Damian Daley - while being held in the cells in Canterbury.

In 2001, the Court of Appeal ruled a retrial should take place and he once again stood before a jury only to be again convicted of all charges.

In 2004 he won the right to another challenge - but this was rejected by the Court of Appeal.

Now in his early 60s, Stone continues to serve time for the crimes and continues to deny he killed 40-year-old Lin and her six-year-old daughter, Megan.

In 2021, a shoelace from the scene containing traces of blood from both murder victims was found in police storage after 14 years - it was thought to have been lost.

It was originally claimed by prosecutors the lace had been used as a tourniquet by a drug user - which Stone was known to have been.

But recent forensic tests revealed the item did not contain any DNA link to Stone.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) - an independent body which needs to approve any challenge to a conviction before referring it to the Court of Appeal - said in October 2023 it is currently assessing the latest challenge from Stone’s representatives.

The move reportedly came in response to a ‘pre-action’ letter by Stone’s lawyers warning that they would take the CCRC to a judicial review over its disregard of Bellfield’s multiple confessions from his cell in recent years to the murders and the body’s failure to order new forensic tests on DNA strands found at the crime scene.

Other questions over the evidence have also been raised including a witness reportedly seeing a beige car close to the scene - similar to that driven by Bellfield at the time - whereas Stone had a white car and in the hours before the attack, he was known to have visited a pawn shop in Chatham - some 40 miles away.

Meanwhile, Bellfield is currently serving two life terms for the murders of Marsha McDonnell, Amelie Delagrange and Milly Dowler, who was just 13 when she was killed.

In 2022, the convicted murderer and sex offender confessed to killing Lin and her six-year-old daughter only to retract the statement later that year and then confess once again to the murders in 2023.

But the Discovery+ documentary highlights inconsistencies in Bellfield’s account that he was wearing "bright yellow marigold washing up gloves and holding a hammer in my right hand".

As linguistics expert Professor Dawn Archer told the program, Bellfield is left-handed.

"Why would he want to attack someone using his non-dominant hand?” she asks.

“Does he have to do that because he has to fit with what’s known about the crime?”