Rikki Neave murder: James Watson jailed for 15 years

Rikki Neave was just six years old when he was murdered and his body found near his home on the Welland estate

The killer of a six-year-old schoolboy who evaded justice for nearly three decades has been jailed for a minimum of 15 years.

Rikki Neave's naked body was found posed in a star shape near his Peterborough home the day after he disappeared in November 1994. He had been strangled.

In April, James Watson, now 41 but 13 at the time, was convicted of murder.

He has been given a life sentence at the Old Bailey in London.

Watson was the second person to stand trial for Rikki's murder, after the boy's mother Ruth Neave was cleared by a jury in 1996.

The judge, Mrs Justice McGowan, said the 15-year minimum prison term reflected that Watson was a child when he killed Rikki.

Watson showed no emotion as he was sentenced by Mrs Justice McGowan

Watson lured his victim to woods and jurors were told he strangled him with a ligature or anorak collar to fulfil a "morbid fantasy".

Sentencing the killer, who showed no emotion, the judge said: "Rikki was a child too willing to trust and engage with strangers.

"He never had the chance to be happy and lead a normal and fulfilling life. That opportunity was denied to him by his murder."

Watson was convicted after a cold case investigation opened in 2015, during which adhesive tapings from his clothes were examined and a DNA match to him were made.

He 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.

The Big Cases

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

Watch now on BBC iPlayer

• Mum of murdered boy says she 'died when he did'

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

• Murder accused 'messed up' by leaving UK

Watson had been spoken to as a witness in the original investigation after he was reported as being seen with Rikki.

Rikki's last meal of Weetabix fixed his time of death at about midday, which meant the boy was killed shortly after being seen with Watson.

A police officer lays flowers in tribute to Rikki in 1994

During sentencing, the judge said the "bizarre stripping and positioning of the body" in woodland near Rikki's home on the Welland estate "was undoubtedly done as a manifestation of that sexual interest".

But Mrs Justice McGowan and the defence team said there was no evidence of sexual activity.

Jennifer Dempster QC, counsel for Watson, said her client's most substantial mitigation was his age at the time.

She said there were "particularly sensitive matters" in Watson's life - not aired during the trial - which made him vulnerable and she cited him being taken into care in 1993 after being assaulted by his father.

Ms Dempster said his education and childhood was "affected by being let down by a variety of adults in his life who ought not to have done so".

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

Speaking after Watson's conviction for a BBC documentary, to be broadcast on Friday, Ms Neave said she wanted to clear her name over the cruelty conviction.

She said she was also seeking an apology from Cambridgeshire Police over the original investigation which had led to "everybody thinking I murdered my son".

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

Rikki's biological father, Trevor Harvey, died nine years ago and his sisters, Sandra Chestney and Alison Harvey, in a statement issued through police, said "the pain of losing Rikki never left him".

Rebecca Maria Harvey, Rikki's elder sister who referred to him as Rikki Lea Harvey, broke down as she addressed the court during her victim impact statement, in which she said: "Although I was the eldest, it wasn't like that as he would look after me.

"I still wake up every day thinking it was a nightmare. I never had a brother to grow up with."

Addressing Watson, but not using his name, she said: "After all these years of living your life... you finally get your comeuppance and Rikki Lea Harvey finally gets justice."

After the discovery of Rikki's body in Peterborough in 1994, his mother was found not guilty of his murder at Northampton Crown Court in 1996

Former Assistant Chief Constable Paul Fullwood said officers had "made a promise that we would find the person responsible for Rikki's death and it's a promise we have kept".

"Rikki was a kind and cheeky chap who was cruelly taken under the most horrendous of circumstances.

"His memory lives on through his family, who have to deal with his loss for the rest of their lives.

"But now they finally have answers, they know what happened and they know who took Rikki from them, and I really hope this gives them some peace."

He said mistakes had been made and that police initially "charged the wrong person" in Ms Neave, but he denied that officers missed an opportunity to charge Watson during the original investigation.

"For years Watson had hidden away," he said. "Knowing he was responsible for Rikki's murder and thinking he had gotten away with it, but that is no longer the case."

You can watch the interview with Ruth Neave as part of the BBC's The Big Cases series, available on BBC iPlayer.