Murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins

Billie Jo Jenkins
Born29 March 1983
East London, England
Died15 February 1997 (aged 13)
Hastings, East Sussex, England
Cause of deathMurder by beating

Billie-Jo Margaret Jenkins (29 March 1983 – 15 February 1997)[1] 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.[2] 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.

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.[3][4][5][6] The forensic examination also found that the bloodspots contained tiny fragments of metal from the murder weapon, an iron tent peg.[7] In January 2022, it was announced that police were re-examining the forensic evidence.[8]

Her killing is one of Britain's most high-profile unsolved murders.[8]

  1. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007
  2. ^ "Sion Jenkins: 'I don't want sympathy from anyone'". The Guardian. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Billie-Jo's father 'to fight on'". BBC News. 17 February 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Billie-Jo: In an extraordinary attack on her ex-husband, Lois Jenkins says he was violent and a liar". The Independent. 12 February 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  5. ^ "THIS ISN'T OVER YET! After 3 murder trials and 9 years, Jenkins walks free. But Billie-Jo's family warn him." The Free Library. 10 February 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Re-examine evidence in Billie-Jo's murder". News Shopper. 28 March 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2022doc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b "Billie-Jo Jenkins: Forensic review 25 years after unsolved murder". BBC News. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.