Rikki Neave: Mother of murdered schoolboy says 'I died when he did'

Rikki Neave was just six years old when he was murdered

The mother of a six-year-old schoolboy murdered in 1994 said "when Rikki died, I died".

Rikki Neave's naked body was found near his Peterborough home the day after he disappeared in November 1994.

In April this year, James Watson, now 41 but 13 at the time of Rikki's death, was found guilty of his murder.

Rikki's mother Ruth Neave - who was cleared of murder in 1996 - told a BBC documentary ahead of Friday's sentencing she wanted a police apology.

While she was cleared of killing her son, Ms Neave was jailed for child cruelty - a charge she has subsequently claimed to have been "bullied" into admitting.

Watson was convicted by an Old Bailey jury, seven years after a cold case investigation was opened into Rikki's murder and subsequently jailed for a minimum of 15 years.

Adhesive tapings from his clothes were examined and a DNA match to Watson was made.

James Watson had been a name which cropped up during the original 1994 investigation

Watson claimed he may have lifted Rikki to help him see over a fence, but police found archive TV footage showing there was no fence at the time.

Jurors heard Watson strangled his victim with a ligature or anorak collar to fulfil a "morbid fantasy" and stripped Rikki and posed his naked body in a star shape for sexual gratification.

• How the killer of a six-year-old was finally caught

The Big Cases

Rikki Neave left for school but never came home. Decades on his killer has been jailed.

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Ms Neave said of her son: "He was just beautiful, smile on his face, always had a cheeky chubby face. He was good with his hands.

"He got a boombox out of a tip, he took it upstairs and it wasn't working. Probably about two or three days later he came downstairs with this box and it's playing music... I couldn't believe it.

"I just loved him so much and even thinking about it hurts.

"I just didn't think it was ever fair - why my child?"

While she was cleared of killing her son at a trial at Northampton Crown Court, Ms Neave was jailed for child cruelty.

Ms Neave said Watson's trial was "traumatic... it brought back memories of when I was in court".

"He used my neglect and cruelty [conviction] as his defence," she said.

"And he thought he could get away with it. I always said to everybody this was going to be a trial within a trial."

Ms Neave heard the news of verdict on her son's killer while she was sitting in a cafe, which she said was a "fantastic" moment, however, she found it difficult to register the conviction.

But she said she was now looking for an apology from Cambridgeshire Police "for making my life hell, living under a cloud, everybody thinking I murdered my son".

"I missed out on my children's upbringing, my grandchildren's upbringing, I'm missing out on everything thanks to Cambridgeshire Police," she said.

"When Rikki died, I died."

Rikki with his father Trevor Harvey, and Ruth Neave pictured in 1995

Her husband Gary Rogers said that since the conviction his wife was "smiling again - I haven't seen that in years".

Former Assistant Chief Constable Paul Fullwood, senior lead for the reopened investigation, said: "We promised Rikki's family, including Ruth, that we would find his killer and that is what we did.

"Our role was never about reviewing the work of the original team almost 30 years ago. Our goal was always justice for Rikki.

"I have apologised to the family for the length of time the investigation has taken and bringing Rikki's killer to justice.

"This is a very complex case and it was not our role to judge or look at the circumstances surrounding Rikki's life prior to his tragic death.

"The judicial process is very different to what it was in the 1990s but the principles of open justice and the responsibility of deciding whether a person is guilty or not, on the facts of a case remain the same.

"Ruth was found not guilty of Rikki's murder and when we reopened the case we did so with a fresh view.

"We are not that original team and I hope that this result will bring closure and comfort for Ruth that her son's killer has finally been found."

You can watch the interview with Ruth Neave as part of the BBC's The Big Cases series, available on BBC iPlayer from 18:30 BST on Friday.