The most damning evidence against Michael Stone came from fellow prisoner Damien Daley, who said the killer bragged to him about his crime.

Daley, 26, told Nottingham Crown Court Stone described one of his victims as a "slag" and spoke about "smashing heads, breaking eggs".

Stone was convicted of the murder of Lin Russell, 45, and daughter Megan, aged six, and attempting to murder Josie Russell, then aged nine, in a country lane near Chillenden, Kent.

He said they were trying to get away and they didn't get far. He said they didn't have what he wanted, they were paupers or something

Damian Daley

The attack happened as the family walked home on 9 July, 1996.

Stone, from Gillingham, Kent, was held at Canterbury prison while on remand after being arrested in July 1997.

The prosecution told the jury the case rested on the evidence of Daley, who claims the confession took place on 23 July.

He told the court he was in cell three of the prison segregation unit where inmates in adjoining cells would communicate by talking next to a heating pipe.

Unlike the jury in the first trial, the jurors were taken to Canterbury prison's C wing

They took it in turns to lay on a mattress next to the pipe and strained to see if they could hear as a forensics expert recited a scene from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book.

Daley said Stone used this method to talk to him after being jeered by other prisoners.

Damian Daley: Denied framing the accused

Daley told the court: "I told him to shut up, then he started to talk to me about smashing heads, breaking eggs, that's the words he used.

"I didn't know what he was talking about.

"Then he said something along the lines of 'I would have been OK if it hadn't been for that slag, if that slag hadn't picked me out'.

"I told him to keep quiet."

Daley said he went back to reading a copy of The Mirror newspaper.

'Tell the screws'

He said: "I got to an article about a girl getting some bravery award and it said about the Chillenden murders.

"I knew there was one woman and one girl, I didn't know there was a survivor."

Daley said that after realising the man in the next cell might have a connection to the crime he went back to the pipe.

I couldn't say who was in the cell next to me because I don't know but it was like being told a horror story

Damian Daley

He said: "I told him to shut up or I would tell the screws.

"He said they wouldn't believe me and even if they do 'I'll be nutted'."

Daley said this was prison slang for pleading insanity.

He said: "He was talking about wet towels and someone being disobedient or something.

"He said they were trying to get away and they didn't get far. He said they didn't have what he wanted, they were paupers or something.

'Turned him on'

"He mentioned a dog, he said the dog made more noise than they did. I thought he meant females but now I know there was a dog involved.

"He said about making someone watch. He said they closed their eyes and he hit them.

Lin and Megan Russell died

"Then he was talking about swimming costumes and that there was a swimming costume and that he became aroused by it.

"He said it turned him on."

Daley told the court he was horrified by what he heard.

He said: "I just sat on my bed rocking to and fro. The night seemed to go on forever.

"I couldn't say who was in the cell next to me because I don't know but it was like being told a horror story but a bit more twisted and it was real."

Later, under cross-examination by William Clegg QC, defending, Daley told the court: "I lie to get by in life. I'm a crook. That's what crooks do.

"They beg, borrow, steal and lie however they can to get by. But if you were to say to me now, 'Are you lying?' I would say, 'No, I am not.' "