Sion Jenkins in £500,000 jail compensation bid

3:18pm Monday 25th August 2008

Former teacher Sion Jenkins, who spent six years in prison for the murder of foster daughter Billie-Jo Jenkins before being cleared has launched a compensation claim for up to £500,000 for his time in jail.

Billie-Jo, 13, was found in a pool of blood with head injuries inflicted by a metal tent peg on the patio of the family's large Victorian home in Lower Park Road, Hastings on February 15, 1997.

Jenkins, at the time headteacher-designate at all-boys William Parker School in Hastings, has maintained his innocence and insisted Billie-Jo must have been killed by an intruder while he visited a DIY store.

In 1998 he was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of murdering her and jailed for life but had a retrial in 2005 after successfully appealing.

However, the jury failed to agree a verdict and a second retrial ended the same way in 2006, allowing him to walk free.

In an interview with a national newspaper, Jenkins said of the move: “I am waiting for a decision. I fit all the criteria.”

He added: “I believe the Government should compensate me for taking away my liberty for six years, which also meant I lost the childhood of my daughters.”

Earlier this month, Colin Stagg was handed a compensation award of £706,000 after he was falsely accused of murdering Rachel Nickell.

Stagg was acquitted at the Old Bailey after a judge ruled police used a “honey trap” plot to encourage him to confess.

Sussex Police said nobody was available to comment directly on the action by Jenkins.

In a recently published book entitled The Murder of Billie-Jo, Jenkins, 50, who now lives with his second wife, claimed he had identified a possible new suspect for the murder of his teenage foster daughter.

He said he spoke to who he thought was a dark-haired, plain-clothed police officer in his hallway in the confused hour after Billie-Jo Jenkins was found bludgeoned to death.

Following the killing, his ex-wife, Lois, emigrated to Tasmania with their four daughters, who have chosen to have no contact with their father.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said it would not discuss individual applications.

He added new laws will limit compensation to a maximum of £500,000 where the applicant is in custody for less than ten years and £1 million for more than a decade.

He said: “Changes to the compensation scheme are being made to bring about a better balance between compensation paid to victims of crime and compensation paid following a miscarriage of justice. The changes will also speed up the process.”