Murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins

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Billie-Jo Jenkins was a 13-year-old girl from East Sussex in the United Kingdom, who was murdered on 15 February 1997. She was brought up in east London and fostered by Lois and Siôn Jenkins from the age of nine. She attended Helenswood School in Hastings. Her murderer has never been caught.

Billie-Jo came from an unfortunate family background. Her natural father, Bill Jenkins, was in jail and her mother was unable to cope on her own, so she was placed in foster care with an unrelated family, coincidentally having the same family name.

Her foster father, Siôn David Charles Jenkins, at that time unqualified deputy headmaster of William Parker School, was originally wrongly convicted of her murder in 1998. The first appeal against his conviction in 1999 failed, but a second appeal in August 2004 was successful. The Court of Appeal quashed his original conviction as unsafe and ordered a retrial, with Jenkins being released on bail.

The juries in two retrials were unable to reach majority verdicts and at the Old Bailey in London, on February 9, 2006 Jenkins was officially declared not guilty. The Crown Prosecution Service indicated that no further retrials of Siôn Jenkins would be sought, and he was formally acquitted.

1 Legal proceedings against her foster father
2 Another possible suspect
3 Costs
4 Present situation
5 Memorial Seat
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Legal proceedings against her foster father

Billie-Jo was battered over the head at least ten times with an iron tent peg, while painting patio doors at the family home in Hastings, East Sussex but Siôn Jenkins (her foster father, coincidentally with the same surname) had always denied the murder.

He had told police that he found her in a pool of blood on the patio when he returned from a shopping trip with two of his natural daughters, Annie and Charlotte. However, he became the third police suspect following the discovery of 158 microscopic blood spots on his clothing. The police also found out that Jenkins had exaggerated some of the qualifications on his CV when he had applied for his teaching job, and this was used effectively to suggest that he was an unreliable person. During an intensive two-hour interview with Siôn's wife Lois, the police told her that they were sure that he was the murderer, as they said that the blood spots proved his guilt.

The prosecution failed to explain why Jenkins did not have blood actually visible on his fleece, if he had committed the extremely violent and brutal murder of which he was accused. The patio was covered in blood over the floor and walls.

Siôn Jenkins' defence at the original trial was greatly weakened by the fact that his wife Lois had already been persuaded of his guilt. She did not permit their two daughters, Annie and Charlotte, who had been with him at the time when the prosecution claimed that he murdered Billie-Jo, to give evidence for him at the trial.

At the second appeal, which was successful, Siôn's natural daughters did give evidence in favour of their father

[edit] Another possible suspect

Around the time of the murder, a tramp was seen in the area, suffering from schizophrenia, who could have carried out the killing. (Indeed, he was the main suspect before the police turned their attention to the foster father, following the discovery of microscopic drops of blood on his shirt). It was suggested that the tramp had seen Siôn Jenkins leave and was planning to break in around the back, but was surprised to see the young girl painting the windows, and then attacked her. The police were unable to interview the tramp, firstly because he could not be found, but later because a psychiatrist declared that he was not well enough to be interviewed. Siôn Jenkins himself claimed that he and his wife Lois were "so worried about prowlers and break-ins in the area where they lived that they had security lights and window locks fitted to their home" (The contradiction of Siôn Jenkins, see references). Siôn's daughter Charlotte stated on video that a side gate, which had been closed when they left, was open when they returned, suggesting that there had indeed been an intruder.

A bizarre aspect of the murder was the fact that two pieces of bin liner were found pushed deep into the victim's nostrils. This evidence did not come to light until late in the trial of Siôn Jenkins, and was always a little intriguing and often thought of as just a rumour, as it was not given as much attention as the blood spots? There were also claims that a man escaped from a mental institution on the day of the murder, and was seen near the area.

Sussex police have since refused to investigate other credible lines of inquiry. According to Professor Graham Zellick, chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, "There was another suspect in the frame who the police had investigated but dismissed from that investigation because of alibi evidence. And on investigation we discovered the evidence that supposedly excluded him was, in fact, not reliable."

The police investigation has been criticised for being badly handled, and Jenkins claims he was accused without reason. It seems an unfortunate case where very little evidence was found, so the prosecution relied on the blood spots, together with rumour and innuendo. The evidence given by the two daughters who were with Siôn Jenkins at the house (including Charlotte's statement that the side gate was opened while they were away from he house) was not used in court. This was because their mother did not wish the children to give evidence. Also Siôn Jenkins believed that he would be found not guilty at his original trial.

When it was proved that the blood spots, less than the spray of a small sneeze, could have come from Billie-Jo's airways as Jenkins' tended to Billie-Jo, the jury were unable to come to a majority verdict after 39 hours of deliberating and the original sentence was quashed. Siôn Jenkins was found not guilty by the court.

[edit] Costs

The police investigation, trials and appeals are estimated to have cost £10m. Seven hundred witness statements were taken by the police, jurors spent 36 days deliberating in three trials and Jenkins spent 11 days in the witness box giving evidence.

[edit] Present situation

It has been suggested that the area of the tent-peg that was not covered in Billie-Jo's blood - i.e. that part that was held by the assailant - should be subjected to DNA analysis. In view of the enormous improvements in DNA techniques in the last few years this would certainly seem to be a promising line of investigation.

In 2007 Siôn Jenkins lodged formal complaints with the General Medical Council about the conduct of Professor David Southall and Dr Arnon Bentovim. These were two expert witnesses at his original trial in 1998, who made misleading and untrue statements. Jenkins states "I have decided to take this action because I believe that Professor Southall and Dr Bentovim must answer for their false evidence. Together, these two men paved the way for the destruction of my family and my wrongful conviction, and also allowed the murderer of Billie-Jo to remain at liberty."

[edit] Memorial Seat

On 19th January 2008, in Alexandra Park, Hastings, a memorial seat made from a locally felled oak tree by local artist Joc Hare, was dedicated to the memory of Billie-Jo. The first few words on the seat read, "Side by side or miles apart, friends are close to the heart".^[1]