Murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins

Billie-Jo's family have always maintained that Siôn Jenkins is guilty, and blamed the outcome of the final trial on the fact that the judge ruled inadmissible new forensic evidence due to it being introduced too late for the defence team to respond. The forensic evidence showed that the spots of blood found on Siôn's clothing also contained small fragments of Billie-Jo's bone and flesh, which appeared to disprove his claim that the blood had got there from her breathing out onto him as she died. It was this claim that had previously won Jenkins his re-trial. The forensic examination also found that the bloodspots contained tiny fragments of metal from the murder weapon, an iron tent peg. In January 2022, it was announced that police were re-examining the forensic evidence.

After Jenkins was formally acquitted, Sussex Police stated that they "had resolutely sought justice for Billie-Jo". Since the acquittal the force have maintained that there are no plans to re-open the murder investigation. Despite this, on 31 January 2022, a forensic review of the case was announced by Sussex Police.

On 31 January 2022, a forensic review of the case was announced by Sussex Police, although it was revealed that the wider investigation was not being re-opened.

In a February 2022 Channel 5 documentary on the case, members of the police investigative team stated that Jenkins continued to lie in a book he wrote on his daughter's murder after his acquittal. In the book Jenkins had claimed that he had been forced to sign police statements that he had never read, but officers said he had meticulously read every written summary of interviews after they had concluded, and constantly made his own notes during the interviews.

After the announcement of a review of the forensic evidence in Billie-Jo's murder on the 25-year anniversary of the killing in 2022, Channel 5 released a two-hour documentary on the case titled Who Killed Billie-Jo?. It featured interviews with the officers who led and worked on the case.

After he was released from prison, Jenkins moved to Lymington, Hampshire with his new wife Christina Ferneyhough. Soon after his final acquittal for the murder of his daughter, he enrolled on a criminology course at the University of Portsmouth. In 2008, he applied for £500,000 worth of compensation for his imprisonment, but his application was rejected and he said he would not appeal. The reason given for the refusal of compensation by the Ministry of Justice was that there was no evidence that conclusively proved his innocence.

On 19 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".

At the second retrial, the prosecution stated that the jury would have to decide whether the blood on Jenkins got there when she was attacked or when he discovered her body. It was also noted that Jenkins could have been in a flirtatious, sexualised relationship with his foster daughter at the time, and that evidence from his other children suggested that he "preferred" Billie-Jo to them. The second retrial was likewise unable to reach a majority verdict after three months of evidence, and at the Old Bailey in London on 9 February 2006, Siôn Jenkins was declared in consequence to be acquitted. The Crown Prosecution Service indicated that no further retrials of Jenkins would be sought. He became the first man in British criminal history to be acquitted after being tried three times for the same crime.

After the conclusion of his second retrial in 2006, Jenkins appeared in an extended interview on a special episode of Tonight with Trevor McDonald. Among the subjects Jenkins was questioned on were the claims of Jenkins' former wife that he committed domestic abuse against her and the family. This was the first time he publicly answered questions on this subject.

At the retrial in 2005, forensic scientists stated that the microscopic blood spray could conceivably have been released from Billie Jo's injured airway as Jenkins moved her. The jury was unable to come to a majority verdict after 39 hours of deliberating and a second retrial was ordered.

Around the time of the murder, a mentally ill man was allegedly seen in the street and area. He was taken into custody, but considered to be unable to be questioned. Jenkins said 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". At his appeal in 2004 Jenkins' legal team submitted to the court that this unidentified man could have been responsible for the murder, however, the court firmly rejected this claim, finding that there was no evidence that this alleged suspect had killed Billie-Jo and that forensic and identification evidence in fact indicated the opposite. Jenkins' defence team had already been aware of the 'evidence' regarding this alleged suspect at trial, but had not raised it due to "tactical considerations". The man had a confirmed alibi, as police found that witnesses put him at least 15 minutes away from the house at the crucial moment. It would not have been possible for him to have got to the house from the location he was last seen at by witnesses in time to murder Billie-Jo.

In May 2002 Jenkins' case briefly featured in an episode of ITV's Real Crime series, which specifically focused on notable cases of "crocodile tears".

After his conviction, Siôn appealed, claiming that the blood on his clothes had been sprayed onto him as Billie-Jo breathed out as she died. The judge at his appeal in 1999 disagreed and concluded that even if Billie-Jo had been able to breathe out as she lay dying, "blood spattering would not reach the height on the appellant's clothing at which spattering was found". The appeal was duly dismissed.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission investigated the case, and heard evidence again from a scientific witness called by the defence whose conclusions had been rejected during the 1999 appeal. The witness claimed that the blood stains could have resulted from a rare condition which would have caused gases build up in Billie-Jo's lungs, supposedly causing her to breathe out blood involuntarily. The CCRC referred the case back to the Court of Appeal in 2004.

In 1999, the murder of Billie-Jo was examined in an episode of Channel 4's highly-regarded documentary series Trial and Error. The documentary has never been repeated and there are currently no public copies.

At his trial in 1998, the prosecution revealed that 158 bloodstains were found on the shoes, trousers and jacket of Siôn, and stated that this was impact spatter resulting from the assault on Billie-Jo. Forensic scientists had told the police that they believed the pattern of the blood was the result of impact spatter. The bloodstains had the appearance of a fine spray, and two expert scientific witnesses stated that the appearance and distribution of the pattern was consistent with the suggestion that Siôn was the attacker. Both agreed that it was "typical" of the fine backspatter you would find on an assailant when a weapon impacted with an already bloodied surface. The defence called on two of their own scientific witnesses, yet both stated that the evidence was "not inconsistent" with Siôn being the attacker.

Jenkins was convicted of the murder on 2 July 1998 by unanimous decision, despite the jury being told by the judge that a majority verdict alone would be enough for a conviction. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge concluded he was "a danger to the community". The detective superintendent in charge of the case, Jeremy Paine, said that the murder was "a brutal act carried out in a moment of incomprehensible rage and violence". The police surgeon who had certified Billie-Jo's death said that in his 26 years as a surgeon that it was "without doubt the saddest and most brutal murder I have ever attended".

On 14 February 1997, Siôn and Lois Jenkins had argued over Billie-Jo, who Siôn would later describe to police as "difficult". After arriving home from a trip the next day Siôn said he asked Billie-Jo to turn down her music and evidence later indicated he had been infuriated when she had refused. She had been painting the patio doors that afternoon, but Jenkins found she had got paint on the windows and said later that her painting was "a mess".

The children of Siôn Jenkins and friends of Billie-Jo said that Siôn had been violent as they grew up and had used corporal punishment against them. Two schoolfriends of Billie-Jo said that she had confided in them that Siôn had punched her and scratched her neck, and that on one occasion she had come to school with blood on her face, saying that Jenkins had held her up against a door after she had told him to stop slapping her pet dog. The schoolfriends also reported that on multiple occasions she would come to school with bruises on her arms and legs, claiming they were from arguments with her father. They testified that Billie-Jo had once written "Hate" on her knuckles and "I hate my dad (Sion)". Jenkins would later admit slapping Billie-Jo in anger, and then revealed that he occasionally hit the children with a slipper or with a ruler. His wife Lois also described his "vein-popping" anger when he lost his temper with Billie-Jo. Family friends also stated that Billie-Jo had once been kicked aggressively in the ankle by Siôn while on holiday in France in August 1996, despite her ankle being sprained at the time.

Billie-Jo Margaret Jenkins (29 March 1983 – 15 February 1997) was an English girl who was murdered in Hastings, East Sussex in February 1997. The case gained widespread media attention and remains unsolved. Her foster father, Siôn Jenkins, was originally convicted for the crime, but after two retrials in which the jury was unable to reach a verdict he was formally acquitted. He has been denied compensation on the grounds that there is no evidence to prove his innocence. He holds the rare distinction of having been acquitted despite never having been found not guilty by a jury. A second charge, relating to lies he had conceived about his qualifications in order to get his job as a deputy headteacher, was left to lie on file. Since his acquittal for murder, Sussex Police have maintained that there are no plans to re-open the murder investigation.

The court also heard of the lies Jenkins had conceived on his CV at trial, and it was said that he was under "considerable stress" at the time, since he would have been dismissed if his qualifications were found to be fabricated. His new job was due to start the next September. Jenkins had claimed that he had obtained ten O-levels in 1973, but in fact had obtained only three grade C O-levels in art, English and history, one D grade in arithmetic and E grades in French and physics. He also had claimed he had a teacher qualification in English with drama, but in fact it was in physical education, and had claimed he had attended the University of London when he had actually attended the less prestigious University of East London.