Rikki Neave

In Channel 4's Police Custody: The Murder of Rikki Neave, which airs tonight, police discuss the original investigation in Peterborough after he was killing ...

Booked it on the ferry, drove on and that was that. 'Me and a mate left the UK in a mobile home. Later, he broke down and tearfully told the court: 'I'm a complete a***hole'. The police were filmed visiting the spot where his body was found, with DCI White saying: 'They did do a thorough investigation of the clothing. I think that was a strategic effort o get her to admit to the offence. That opportunity was denied to him by his murder.' 'The fact of the matter is, he knew his killer. It was the best they could do at that time. Is there something going on in the house? Shelley said: 'it was a close community - everyone knew everyone. Is it a case of someone taking him?' He’s a wrong-un and he might be involved.”'

The murder of six-year-old Rikki Neave and the subsequent investigation is set to feature in the Channel 4 documentary series 24 Hours in Police Custody.

Both episode will also be available to watch on catch up on All4 after they have broadcast live. A witness statement from Rikki’s mother was read out instead, with Ruth saying: “Like stones dropping in a pond, it (the murder) has rippled out far and wide. In 2014, the mother spearheaded a campaign to find Rikki’s killer and urged police to reopen the case. After an investigation was launched into the murder of the young boy, police arrested Ruth in January 1995 on suspicion of murder and child cruelty. Rikki’s body had been found by detectives laying in a star position, similar to the famous image, leading them to believe that Ruth was involved with the murder. The convicted killer was not the investigators first suspect though, with Ruth Neave being pinpointed as a target early in the case.

Channel 4's 24 Hours in Police Custody returns on Monday, July 4 and explores the horrific murder of six-year-old Rikki Neave, whose body was discovered in ...

The 6-year-old’s corpse was discovered in a woodland on the Welland Estate in Peterborough, where he had been strangled with a ligature or anorak collar. Channel 4's 24 Hours in Police Custody returns on Monday, July 4 and explores the horrific murder of six-year-old Rikki Neave, whose body was discovered in 1994. A two-part special of the Channel 4 hit TV series focuses on how the case was solved.

The Channel 4 programme will reveal the re-investigation into the murder of Rikki Neave in 1994.

Watson was spoken to at the time in the initial investigation as a witness. On June 24, at the same court he was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 15 years, minus the 843 days already served. In 2015 an investigation into the cold case was relaunched, with a completely new team of officers looking at the case. Ruth Neave, 53, was acquitted of the killing in 1996, but was jailed for seven years after admitting child cruelty in relation to Rikki and two of his sisters. Officers attended his home and extensive searches were carried out in the area with the support of local people. The Channel 4 documentary being aired tonight and tomorrow, July 5, will reveal the re-investigation of Rikki Neave following his murder in Peterborough almost 30 years later.

THIS is the chilling moment Rikki Neave's killer smirked and told his mum "I'll be OK" as he was arrested for murdering the six-year-old.James Watson.

“From 2014 we mounted what become a complex and protracted investigation. “I am sorry that we did not bring James Watson to justice sooner. The court heard he was seen with Rikki on the day he disappeared and was spoken to by police as a witness. One officer tells the show: "Could you say it's shock maybe? "Vulnerable" Rikki was known to social services and had been placed on the "at risk register" at the time of his death. Jurors heard how he had been seen with the youngster on the day he vanished and was spoken to by police at the time.

The Murder of Rikki Neave: Why was his mum Ruth a suspect and where is she now? She was jailed for seven years after his tragic death.

Talking about Rikki’s childhood, she admits her life was “chaotic” and that she “smacked the children”. Ruth Neave suffers from various illnesses, for which she partly blames the death of her son, and her belief that she was wrongfully imprisoned. In the exclusive interview with Rikki Neave’s mum Ruth, she discussed how she was falsely accused of murdering her own son. She says she “thought she was pleading guilty to just smacking the children and that’s it”. She’s revealed that her own life was troubled – she was in care from the age of two. Ms Neave allegedly went on to hold her son around his neck in front of police officers until he went “red in the face”. The judge described her as wholly unfit to be a mother, and that the harm she had done to her children was incalculable. During James Watson’s trial, Ruth told jurors she was “horrified” to be jailed for “smacking” her children. His troubled mother had a drug habit, and was disliked by many of her neighbours for the way she mistreated her son. “All she was interested in was drugs and men and drink. At the time of his death, Rikki lived with his mother Ruth and two of his three sisters on the Welland Estate in Peterborough. She said that Rikki was sometimes forced to steal food from the local shop as there was no food in the house.

RIKKI NEAVE was found dead in the woods in Peterborough when he was just six-years-old.It took 27 years to finally catch who his real killer was, afte.

She claimed that she was "bullied" into admitting the above charges and later on she was cleared of murder. She explained how when there was nothing to eat in the house, at times he would "go to the shop, he would nick [food] and come back and feed us." Who was Rikki Neave and what happened to him? He was known to be a vulnerable child to the Cambridgeshire social services and was on the county's Child Protection Register. Who was Rikki Neave and what happened to him? RIKKI NEAVE was found dead in the woods in Peterborough when he was just six-years-old.

Tonight's episode of Channel 4's 24 Hours in Police Custody, which follows the work of police teams across the country, will reveal how officers came to suspect ...

Watson denied touching the boy when he was interviewed in the presence of a social worker, explaining that he had shown him how to “shake” himself after urinating. When the boy was spoken to, he said that he and Watson had touched each other. Allegations included that he indecently touched a boy of five who was a friend of Rikki Neave, was suspected of masturbating over images of young children and repeatedly put his hands round the neck of a teenage girl during sex. He living at a children’s home at the time of Rikki’s murder, and was regarded by social services as a vulnerable child. Watson was spoken to at the time of the killing in the initial investigation as a witness. When he was interviewed again following his arrest in 2016, Watson changed his account of the meeting with Rikki.