THE family of a nine-year-old girl killed in one of Britain's most notorious child murder cases have broken their silence to call for the reintroduction of the death penalty for child sex killers.

Speaking 16 years after Nicola Fellows and her friend Karen Hadaway, ten, were killed in the "babes in the wood" murders, Nicola's aunt, Gillian Chambers, of York, has demanded the reintroduction of the death penalty.

The two girls were abducted from their homes in Brighton, sexually assaulted and then strangled. Their bodies were later found in Wild Park, Brighton.

Mrs Chambers said the recent killings of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman had brought back harrowing memories of the death of her niece.

"Watching the disappearance on television of Jessica and Holly, it was like Nicola and Karen died yesterday," Mrs Chambers said.

"We will never get over it. Nicola was such a smashing girl, like any cheeky nine-year-old."

Russell Bishop, 36, was cleared of killing the two children in 1987. No one else has been convicted of the murders.

Bishop is an inmate at Full Sutton Prison near York, where he was jailed for life in 1990 for abducting and carrying out what has been described as an horrific sex attack on a seven-year-old girl, leaving her nearly dead.

Mrs Chambers and her daughter moved to York seven years ago, but at the time of the murders lived in London.

"It has just devastated the whole family. Our lives stopped the day Karen and Nicola went missing," she said.

Nicola's parents split up after 22 years of marriage. Even Mrs Chambers' daughters' lives have been affected.

Tia, her eldest daughter, feels she was robbed of her childhood as she was never allowed to go out and play like other children. Mrs Chambers also has a six-year-old daughter, who she will not let out of her sight.

Now, the family are taking their campaign nationwide and also asking others to start their own petitions.

They want action to protect children, whether it be the death penalty for child sex killers, life sentences to mean life, or greater protection for children. They feel the Government should hold a referendum to establish public opinion.

Ian Heffron, Mrs Chambers' brother and uncle of the murdered girl Nicola, said he would not stop until something was done.