Bishop, 55, from Brighton, is receiving end-of-life care at Frankland Prison, in Co Durham, and could have just weeks to live despite having surgery

“The predatory paedophile was initially diagnosed with bowel cancer, which has now spread to his brain.

“Bishop underwent surgery to try to stop the growth of the disease in his head, but it was unsuccessful.”

The double killer lured best friends Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway to a wooded area in Wild Park, in Moulsecoomb, where he sexually assaulted and strangled them in October 1986.

He was near by when their bodies were found the next day and prosecuted a year later but sensationally acquitted.

In 1990, Bishop struck again, when he kidnapped, molested and throttled a seven-year-old girl in Whitehawk before leaving her for dead at the Devil’s Dyke.

Advances in forensic science finally helped to convict Bishop for the Babes in the Wood murders in December 2018, ending the girls’ families’ 32-year wait for justice.

“Bishop has weeks or, at most, months left … His life is ebbing away and he is getting progressively weaker.

“He is getting good care at the jail but it is only palliative care to make his final weeks less painful.

“But a lot of people think there is an element of karma to this and not many of the staff — nor some of the inmates – feel too sorry for him.

“Bishop has never shown much remorse for what he did so people feel justified in not feeling much sympathy towards him.”