Rikki Neave

Clare Forsdike, a senior crown prosecutor at the CPS, said: “The conviction of James Watson for killing Rikki Neave concludes an appalling unsolved crime almost ...

During the first police investigation Watson was treated as a witness. A key piece of evidence against Watson was the DNA he left on Rikki Neave’s clothes. His school uniform was discovered rolled up in a wheelie bin not far from the wood. Watson explained away the DNA by saying he had picked up Rikki Neave so he could see over a wooden fence at some diggers on a construction site. James Watson was 13 when he brutally strangled Rikki Neave in a wood in Peterborough on 28 November 1994. The murder remained unsolved until police reopened it as part of a cold case review and Watson became a suspect.

James Watson, now 41, was aged 13 when he strangled the six-year-old boy in Peterborough.

James Watson was an adolescent, he murdered a small boy and then kept quiet. It brings justice for Rikki." We weren't." Youngest sister Sheradyn Neave, 27, who was a baby when Rikki died, added: "I think we were let down by the police at the time, we were let down by social services, we were let down by everyone who was in our lives who was meant to care." He contacted his sister from France and she told the trial that Watson said he "was in a lot of trouble and he had made a huge mistake". He was the second person to stand trial for Rikki's murder, after the boy's mother Ruth Neave was cleared by a jury in 1996.

Watson was 13 years old when he strangled Rikki with his own jacket before stripping his body and posing him in a "star shape" in Peterborough woodland, ...

Watson was seen with the victim on the day he went missing and was spoken to by police as a witness at the time. Watson had launched a "surprise attack" on the schoolboy and strangled him with his own jacket, the Old Bailey was told. Watson was 13 years old when he strangled Rikki with his own jacket before stripping his body and posing him in a "star shape" in Peterborough woodland, the court heard.

The mother of Rikki Neave, who was murdered by 41-year-old James Watson in 1994, has thanked the jury for making “the right decision”.

James Watson, who was 13 at the time of Rikki's death, was found guilty by jurors at the Old Bailey in London this afternoon (April 21). - 8Ruth Neave thanks jury after man found guilty of Rikki’s murder Ruth Neave thanks jury after man found guilty of Rikki’s murder

James Watson, 41, was found guilty by majority verdict at the Old Bailey today and will be sentenced on a date to be fixed. <p>James Watson ( ...

Mr Fullwood said: "All the way through this, it's been a monumental series of challenges. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Youngest sister Sheradyn Neave, 27, who was a baby when Rikki died, added: “I think we were let down by the police at the time, we were let down by social services, we were let down by everyone who was in our lives who was meant to care.” We weren't.” Watson, of no fixed address, was put on trial for the 1994 murder following a decision by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit to reopen the case in 2014 after DNA from Rikki’s clothes pointed to Watson, who was 13 years-old at the time. A 41-year-old man has been found guilty of the murder of six-year-old schoolboy Rikki Neave.

A man who as a 13-year-old boy strangled a six-year-old and posed his naked body in a “star shape” in woodland has been found guilty of the murder 27 years ...

Mr Fullwood said: "All the way through this, it's been a monumental series of challenges. We weren't." Watson was seen with the victim on the day he went missing and was spoken to by police as a witness at the time. The next month, he was interviewed as a witness by police after an elderly resident reported seeing him with Rikki on the nearby Welland Estate. Watson killed Rikki in woods in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, on 28 November 1994, launching a “surprise attack” on the schoolboy and strangling him with his own jacket, the Old Bailey was told. man who as a 13-year-old boy strangled a six-year-old and posed his naked body in a “star shape” in woodland has been found guilty of the murder 27 years after the killing.