Siôn Jenkins’ Statement

It has taken nine years of struggle and faith for me to be standing here today.

It has been a terrible ordeal and I find it difficult to actually take it in.

I owe everlasting thanks to my legal team Chris Sallon QC, Julian Knowles and especially my solicitor Neil O’May who has worked tirelessly on the case for more than five years. Thanks too for all the work and support of his colleagues at Bindmans.

Throughout, I have had the total unwavering support of all my family, for which they know I’m immensely grateful.

I also wish to thank the friends who have stood by me, the journalists Bob Woffinden and Steve Phelps, those who ran the website so brilliantly for me and kept up the fight, and also the huge number of members of the public who understood that my conviction was a miscarriage of justice and who have given support and encouragement in the very dark days.

My wife Tina has unfailingly stood beside me through this most difficult period and she too knows that I could not have made it without her.

I am eternally grateful for her selfless support.

Of course, my thoughts today, as always, are with my daughters Annie, Charlotte, Esther and Maya.

I want to assure them of my total love for them. Although they are on the other side of the world, not a day has passed without me thinking of them all.

Billie-Jo’s murderer has escaped detection because of the dreadful errors in the police investigation and their single-minded and desperate determination to convict me at all costs.

The police who have been in charge of the inquiry have been wilfully blind and incompetent.

The murder investigation must be reopened immediately with a new police team who will put all their energies into finding Billie-Jo’s killer. Thank you.