The Unsolved Murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins
The murder of 13-year-old Billie-Jo Margaret Jenkins in February 1997 in Hastings, East Sussex remains to this day one of Britain’s most high profile unsolved murders.
Billie-Jo Jenkins was born on the 29th March 1983 in East London. Due to her father being imprisoned and her mother then not being able to cope on her own Billie-Joe was placed into foster care at the age of 9. Coincidently, a couple who shared the same surname as her, Siôn and Lois, took Billie-Jo into their family home in Hastings. The couple already had four daughters of their own and Billie-Jo went on to attend the local Helenwood School. By the time of her murder, she had been living with the family for 5 years. Although a very happy home life was portrayed many knew that Siôn used corporal punishment in order to reprimand all 5 of the girls, sometimes even slapping them with a slipper or ruler.
On February 14th 1997, the body of Billie-Jo was found in the back garden of the family home in Hastings. She had been battered over the head with an iron tent peg. It is likely that she was dead within minutes of the brutal assault. On the day of her death, she had been painting the patio doors to earn some extra pocket money. Siôn later came back from taking 2 of his daughters to a clarinet lesson when he realised that Billie-Jo had gotten paint all over the glass whilst doing the doors. He decided to head straight back out in order to get some white spirit to clean up the mess.
Siôn was the last person to see Billie-Jo alive and then found her body just 10 minutes later when they returned from the DIY shop. After finding the body of his foster daughter, Siôn behaved very weirdly. His first response was to go and close the roof on his convertible car and only called 999 when pushed to do so by a neighbour who was trying to help. Whilst on the phone he refused to put Billie-Jo in the recovery position or to check if she was breathing. When questioned by the police afterwards Siôn gave his version of events but the cracks soon started to appear in his story. It is thought that in a blind rage when Siôn returned to the mess Billie-Jo had made he brutally attacked her. The police believed that he then did everything in his power to create an alibi for himself. Going to the shop to get the white spirit, Siôn took a longer route than he would normally, had taken no money with him to make the purchase and it was later found that they already had white spirit at home. Closing the roof of his convertible meant that if any blood had been found on the car he had a reasonable explanation as to why. Siôn soon fell under suspicion, especially from his wife Lois, who claimed he had a violent temper. On February 24th Siôn was arrested on suspicion of murder and then formally charged on March 14th.
During the first trial, the prosecution revealed that 158 bloodstains had been found on Siôn’s shoes, trousers and jacket. Forensic scientists stated that the blood pattern was the result of a ‘typical’ impact splatter. Siôn went on to claim that the blood was from him trying to help Billie-Jo and that she had breathed on his whilst dying. However, both the paramedics and the neighbour were found to have no blood on them at all. Due to the severity of her injuries, this was deemed impossible and was further supported by the fact that none of the witnesses ever saw her breathing. The court was also made aware that Siôn had lied throughout his teaching career about the qualifications he had and where he studied at university. In particular to gain his new promotion to deputy head which he was due to start later in the year.
On July 2nd 1998, a unanimous jury decision was made and Siôn Jenkins was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also charged with ‘obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception’ and that this would remain on his file. In 1999 Siôn’s first appeal failed as it was concluded that Billie-Jo could not have breathed with enough force. ‘Blood spattering would not reach the height on the appellant’s clothing at which spattering was found.’ The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) then investigated. They claimed that the blood spattering was the result of Billie-Jo having a potential rare condition where gas builds up in the lungs, supposedly causing her to breathe out blood involuntarily. The CCRC referred the case back for appeal in 2004.
In the 2005 retrial, no majority was found after the jury deliberated for 39 hours and a 2nd retrial was ordered. During the following retrial, the jury needed to decide whether the blood on Siôn was from him attacking Billie-Jo or from him moving her when she was found. After 3 months of evidence, the jury yet again could not come to a majority decision. On February 9th 2006 at The Old Bailey in London Siôn Jenkins was declared in consequence to be acquitted. The crown prosecution service stated that there would be no more retrials. Siôn is the 1st man in criminal British history to be acquitted after being tried 3 times for the same charge. However, there is mass controversy over two main pieces of evidence not being admitted during the retrial. No evidence was heard from wife Lois about the violence towards her and their 5 daughters. The judge also disallowed new forensic evidence from the University of Cambridge due to it being introduced too late for the defence to respond. The evidence showed that the blood on Siôn had small fragments of Billie-Jo’s bone and flesh but also fragments of metal from the tent peg used to beat her.
Sussex police have maintained that there are no plans to re-open the investigation into the murder of Billie-Jo. However, on January 31st 2022 a forensic review was opened. Jenkins has since applied for compensation for his imprisonment but it was denied due to there being no conclusive proof that he was innocent. Both the biological and foster family of Billie-Jo have always maintained their belief in Siôn Jenkins being guilty. In January 2008 a memorial seat made from a fallen tree was placed in Alexander Park, Hastings. Now Lois and her family live in Australia whilst Siôn, alongside his new wife, live in Lymington, Hampshire.
