Justice for Siôn Jenkins

A sad anniversary

15 February 2010 was the thirteenth anniversary of the death of Billie-Jo Jenkins. We remember Billie Jo …a young life lost too soon, and promise never realised. The memory is inseparable from the knowledge that her murderer has never been found, and that one man’s world was torn apart by injustice in 1997.

Hastings murders: 12 years on

In January 1998 two women were murdered in Hastings within days of each other and in close proximity. In January 2010 a man charged with their murder appeared in Lewes Crown Court where Siôn Jenkins was wrongly convicted in July 1998. Sussex police evidently have the capacity to investigate some twelve year old crimes

January 1998: extreme events in Hastings

• 15 January 1998: James Ashley was shot and killed by police in St. Leonards
• 18 January 1998: Claire Letchford was murdered in her home in Cornwallis Gardens, Hastings
• 25 January 1998: A Czech student was attacked and raped on a train from Hastings to London
• 26 January 1998: The body of murdered Beryl O’ Connor was found in her home, 100 yards away from Cornwallis Gardens.

At exactly the same time in January 1998 Sussex police were actively constructing their case against Siôn Jenkins. They were also preoccupied with investigating another high profile case in Sussex—the murder of Richard Watson. Watson’s wife and stepdaughter were wrongly charged with his murder. The case against them collapsed in the same week that Siôn Jenkins’ murder trial opened in June 1998.

It is worth noting that following investigations into their conduct Sussex Police eventually made formal apologies to Linda Watson and to the family of James Ashley.

The truth still matters

It is now ten years since this website first went online. With the pasing of time, attention on the case of Siôn Jenkins has faded, lives have inevitably moved on, but the unanswered questions remain. In the cold light of reason the case brought against him does not bear close scrutiny, and time has brought a fresh perspective.

The case of Siôn Jenkins will only be finally closed when the truth of what happened in February 1997 is made known. The Guardian of 5 May 2009 reported the view of Richard Foster, chair of the Criminal Cases review Commission (CCRC), that “Progress in science means you are able to go back and revisit cases…. scientific understanding and certainty can actually shift… and you can also get the issue of the correct understanding of scientific evidence. You need to be sure it’s been explained properly to the jury.”

If ever there was a case where complex scientific evidence played a key part in ensuring a conviction, it was that of Siôn Jenkins.

With the perspective of time, a new transparency is perhaps possible. The Guardian’s Justice on Trial series states: “As a society we are finally learning that it is less damaging to admit mistakes than to pretend that they never happen. Nothing enhances justice more than the rigorous pursuit of error.”

We endorse this view, uphold the aim of justice enhanced, and believe that it is finally time to confront the errors made in the Jenkins case.

Ten Indicators for Concern

1. Siôn Jenkins had no motive to commit murder.
2. There was no time for him to commit murder.
3. There was no opportunity for him to commit murder.
4. His first statement was not recorded until three days after the murder.
5. Other credible suspects were not thoroughly followed up once the police had decided to prove Siôn Jenkins’ guilt.
6. Professor David Southall, called as medical expert at the first trial, was not registered as a paediatrician at that time. His evidence was crucial and led to Siôn Jenkins’conviction.
7. Lois Jenkins gave numerous statements which grew more incriminating before the trial. Yet she chose not to give evidence until 2004, seven years after the murder, at the time of the second appeal.
8. Her friend Peter Gaimster gave five inconsistent and increasingly damaging statements over the nine year period involved in the legal process.
9. The prosecution moved the goalposts in each of the trials, moving away from its original ‘compelling’ scientific evidence and instead employing character assassination as tha basis for its case.
10. The Chief Constable at the time of the murder was Paul Whitehouse who presided over a force in chaos. He was later forced to resign over the James Ashley shooting.

For the sake of justice it is reasonable to call for a detailed examination of how the Jenkins case was handled, and—in the light of new scientific techniques—for the reopening of the investigation into the murder of Bille-Jo Jenkins.

Miscarriages of justice cast long shadows. Their consequences are painful and unending for those whose lives are changed immeasurably by past events. The only source of healing is the truth.