James Watson was convicted of the murder of six-year-old Rikki Neave after a police cold case review produced a DNA match
A 42-year-old man given a life sentence for murdering a six-year-old boy nearly 30 years ago has lost an appeal against his conviction.
Rikki’s mother Ruth Neave had been found not guilty of his murder following a trial in Northampton Crown Court in 1996, but was jailed for 7 years after admitting child cruelty. Watson claimed he had lifted Rikki so he could see over a fence. His defence barrister told the appeal hearing that a “wholesale loss and destruction of evidence” meant a fair trial was not possible.
“The reality we submit was that this was a wholesale loss and destruction of evidence, so much so that a fair trial of this applicant is no longer possible,” she had told the appeal hearing.
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