A young woman whose mum and younger sister were murdered in a hammer attack has announced her engagement.

Josie Russell was just nine when the brutal crime took place as she walked home with her mother Dr Lin Russell and sister Megan, six, along a country lane in a village outside Canterbury.

Michael Stone, of Skinner Street, Gillingham, was later convicted of the murders in 1998 and is serving three life sentences.

He must spend at least 25 years in jail, meaning he will be behind bars until 2023 at the earliest.

A retrial was held after a prosecution witness recanted his evidence, but Stone was convicted for a second time.

Josie was left for dead in the violence 21 years ago and it took her many years to go through rehabilitation.

She is now 30 and a successful textile artist living in Wales.

Her father Shaun took her back to the Welsh countryside to move on from what had happened in Kent.

She has spoken to the Daily Mail to reveal her partner, Iwan Griffith, proposed at Christmas. The couple have been together for 12 years.

Stone has always professed his innocence and in May a TV programme brought together experts from the legal, policing and scientific worlds to re-examine the evidence.