9 July 1996

Dr Lin Russell and her two daughters are attacked by a man wielding a hammer as they walk home along a country lane in Chillenden, near Canterbury, Kent.

Dr Russell and six-year-old Megan are killed while Josie, nine, survives with severe head injuries and brain damage.

December 1996

Josie, and her father Dr Shaun Russell, move from their family home in Kent to start a new life in the Nantlle Valley in north Wales.

Her injuries left her with speech problems and very little memory of the attack, but she begins to make a partial recovery.

1 May 1997

Josie recovers enough to speak about the attack for the first time in an interview to police, which is videotaped and later presented as trial evidence.

9 July 1997

A reconstruction of the attack on the Russells is shown on the BBC's Crimewatch UK programme, on the first anniversary of the attack.

Michael Stone, from Gillingham, Kent, is arrested and held in the segregation wing of Canterbury jail.

1 April 1998

Josie Russell is awarded �18,500 by the independent Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

The award is widely condemned as derisory and Home Secretary Jack Straw urges Dr Russell to appeal.

29 July 1998

On appeal the award - for the loss of Josie's mother and sister - is increased to �79,000.

6 October 1998

Michael Stone goes on trial, for the murders of Lin and Megan Russell, and the attempted murder of Josie, at Maidstone Crown Court.

23 October 1998

The jury finds Stone guilty on all three counts by a 10-2 majority verdict, after nearly 15 hours of deliberation.

He is given three life sentences.

6 November 1998

Stone's defence team formally lodge an application to appeal against his conviction and say they are "hopeful and optimistic" about their chances of being granted leave to appeal.

6 September 1999

The Sun newspaper reports that Josie Russell has been awarded an extra �97,000 in compensation for her injuries and loss of future earnings.

18 January 2001

Three senior judges sitting in the Royal Court of Justice in London grant Stone the right to appeal against his conviction after prosecution witness Barry Thompson admits lying.

6 February 2001

Stone successfully challenges his conviction at the Court of Appeal. The judges say that, in the light of doubts over a key witness, the appeal "must succeed".

8 February 2001

Judges considering Stone's case quash his conviction but order a second trial.

5 September 2001

Stone's retrial begins at Nottingham Crown Court. The judge orders the media to refer to it as his second trial and bans them making any mention of the outcome of his first trial.

4 October 2001

Stone is found guilty of the murder of Lin and Megan Russell and the attempted murder of Josie Russell.