Convicted in 1998 of the Chillenden murders of Lin and Megan Russell, killer Michael Stone could be eligible for parole next year after serving 25 years of a life sentence.

Instead, after a quarter of a century behind bars, he remains determined to prove his innocence, and his lawyers say they still hope to take the case to the Court of Appeal, as Rhys Griffiths reports...

"It's no exaggeration, this will be the biggest miscarriage of justice since the Birmingham Six."

Mark McDonald is emphatic in the belief that his client, Michael Stone, has spent almost 25 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

"I think that this is the most significant miscarriage of justice since the Birmingham Six because of the nature of this crime, the publicity and the public element of this crime.

"There were discussions at Cabinet level about this case, it had a profound impact upon the country, and when it is found that they've got the wrong man, that he's innocent, then I think there will be shock waves through the police and through other public bodies as well."

In July 1996, Lin Russell was walking with her daughters, Megan and Josie, along a country lane in Chillenden when they were brutally attacked by an assailant brandishing a hammer.

Lin and Megan were killed, Josie miraculously survived, and the horrific crime shocked the nation.

Stone was convicted of the killings twice at trial, and is now close to having served the 25-year tariff imposed on him at sentencing.

Despite the prospect the killer - who has always maintained his innocence - could walk free next year, this will not happen as he refuses to engage with the parole process.

Instead, Mr McDonald says, Stone spends his every moment inside HMP Frankland, the County Durham jail where he is being held, pouring over every last detail of the case and the inconsistencies he maintains led to his unfair conviction.

"Here's the thing about Stone," McDonald tells KentOnline, "he's refused any engagement with the Probation Service.

"He's refused to be re-categorised into a lower category so he can be released.

"His view is that to engage would be to make an admission of culpability, of which he says no, which means he will never be released. He'll never have parole.

"He's due to be out next year - his tariff finishes next year don't forget. So his sentence, or the tariff of his sentence, comes to an end next year.

"When we talk, what we talk about is the whole of his case, to which he spends his time in his cell reading the papers - of which there are many thousands - and referring me to the the inconsistencies that they may find.

"So this is a man that spends his every waking hour trying to prove his innocence.

"I've never had it where someone is so determined to prove that they're innocent to the detriment of themselves."

Stone was found guilty in 1998 after drug addict - and subsequently convicted murderer - Damian Daley gave evidence for the prosecution, telling the court how Stone, of Skinner Street in Gillingham, had confessed to him in prison that he had carried out the dreadful attacks.

But it later emerged that another witness who claimed to have heard a confession, Barry Thompson, had lied. Another witness is understood to have received money from a newspaper.

Mr McDonald said: "The judge said to the jury: 'If you don't believe Damian Daley then you must find Michael Stone not guilty.'

"Which means that the only real evidence in this trial was that of Damian Daley.

"One day when Michael Stone walks out of the Royal Courts of Justice as an innocent and free man there will need to be a public inquiry into the conduct of the Kent Police."

Stone's legal team have long expressed concern over the reliability of Daley as a witness, and there have also been concerns about how evidence was handled during the investigation.

One particular cause of concern to Stone's lawyers and his family has been the issue of a shoe lace which they claim went missing for a number of years, despite their belief that it could have contained evidence that may have exonerated him.

The waters were further muddied earlier this year when serial killer Levi Bellfield made a shock confession taking responsibility for the Chillenden murders - which he later retracted.

Does Mr McDonald still believe the Bellfield confession was genuine?

"You have to understand we are dealing with a very complex character in Levi Bellfield, he has profound personality issues and he's quite manipulative.

"There's two things here. First of all it's his MO, it's what he does. He kills people and he hits them with hammers. He kills women, and he's killed a child before with Milly Dowler [murdered by Bellfield in 2002].

'So this is a man that spends his every waking hour trying to prove his innocence...'

"Number two, he has been associated with Kent and that area, independently. Three, we've got an eyewitness of him.

"But four, and this is probably the most important thing, I don't need to prove that someone else did the murders. I need to prove that my client is not guilty and that his conviction is not safe.

"It doesn't matter, in a way, whether or not he's telling the truth or not. The issue is does this impact upon the safety of the conviction?

"If the jury had known that Levi Bellfield had confessed to this crime would they have convicted Michael Stone of it? That's the test."

Stone's legal team is hoping that it could soon have the chance to put its case against the conviction in court.

'I could get an email any minute telling me we're going to the Court of Appeal...'

The Criminal Cases Review Commission, the statutory body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice in England, is currently reviewing a submission made by Mr McDonald at the end of September.

"I am waiting for the CCRC to come back to me as to whether or not they are going to refer this matter to the Court of Appeal," he said.

"They could come back any day now, based upon Bellfield's confession.

"I could get an email any minute telling me we're going to the Court of Appeal."

Meanwhile, with his potential release date nearing, Stone remains resolutely opposed to engaging with the parole system. His insistence in his own innocence remains resolute after almost a quarter of a century.

'Michael Stone remains convicted of the murders of Lin and Megan Russell, and the attempted murder of Josie Russell...'

The Birmingham Six were six men who were sentenced to life behind bars in 1975 following their false convictions for the bombing of pubs in Birmingham.

Sixteen years later the convictions were declared unsafe and quashed by the Court of Appeal. The men received compensation ranging from £840,000 to £1.2 million.

Det Ch Supt Lucy Morris, from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "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.

"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.

"The Criminal Case Review Commission commenced an extensive re-examination of the murder investigation in 2017 and has had access to all forensic evidence, documentation and exhibits from the original investigation, the review by Hampshire Police, details of the two Crown Court trials and appeals to the High Court.

"The shoelace which was seized as part of the original investigation was made available to the CCRC. All evidence from the examinations on the shoelace were recorded and disclosed to the CCRC."