Justice for Siôn Jenkins

The Police

The police case against Siôn Jenkins was always flawed, relying on innuendo rather than evidence.

Sussex police can no longer rely on that innuendo. Today, facts are what matter. The roles of Jeremy Paine and Ann Capon still demand the closest scrutiny.

In the words of Linda Watson, victim of another major miscarriage of justice by Sussex Police in 1996, “truths that were so obvious were so deliberately misconstrued”

There is an urgent need for a review of the investigation into Billie Jo’s murder, in the wider context of the performance of Sussex police during the past decade. There have been a number of public exposures, raising widespread and justifiable concern.

The conduct of Sussex police in the case of Siôn Jenkins has always been a contentious matter. It must be hoped that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) will eventually disclose the truth of what took place over the long lifetime of the case.

• The CV story : An account of how innuendo played its part in securing an unsafe conviction.

• A bad year for justice in Sussex : 1997 was not a good year for Sussex police.
• The experts : The influence of ‘experts’ was crucial to the conviction of Siôn Jenkins in 1998.
• Important Questions : Examination of the facts prompts some serious questions, detailed here.
• A time for integrity : The time has come for Sussex police to be held to account.
• An invasion of privacy : David Jenkins, Siôn Jenkins’ father, made a disturbing discovery about the time when his son was in Wales on bail after the successful second appeal.
• Mr B : The role of the man identified as Mr B remains crucial. In the course of three trials and two appeals one vital clue was never satisfactorily accounted for by the prosecution. In 2007 it is vital that Sussex police continue the quest for justice for Billie-Jo and reinvestigate the involvement of Mr B.
• An Insider’s View… : Not everyone in Sussex Police was feeling comfortable…
• A Dismal History : An overview of police conduct in this case, in the context of increasing public concern, over a number of years, about the force
• Ten Years On : Sussex Police should accept the burden of their responsibility to find Billie-Jo’s murderer
• Trail of Guilt : Immediately after Siôn Jenkins’ first appeal failed, the Sussex Police’s view was highlighted in this BBC 1 television programme.
• The Richard Watson Murder : Text of an article by Bob Woffinden in The Daily Mail, 10 April 1999. It documents a saga of ineptitude by Sussex police in the Watson case, which has important parallels with the Jenkins case.