Sion Jenkins compensation bid rejected

(GETTY IMAGES)

Former teacher Sion Jenkins was refused compensation for the six years he spent in prison before being acquitted of his foster daughter's murder, it was reported today.

Mr Jenkins launched a claim for up to £500,000 damages but his case was rejected by the Ministry of Justice, the Daily Mail reported.

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, East Sussex, on February 15, 1997.

Jenkins, at the time headteacher-designate at all-boys William Parker School in Hastings, 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 he 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 a newspaper interview in 2008 after the publication of his book The Murder of Billie-Jo, Mr Jenkins said he fitted "all the criteria" for a payout.

He said: "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."

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

The Ministry of Justice said it was unable to comment on the compensation claim.

Video: Sion Jenkins loses compensation claim

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 was found bludgeoned to death.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: "The murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins in 1997 remains an unresolved case and is therefore subject to review in the event of any new and compelling evidence coming to light.

"We will continue actively to pursue any viable lines of inquiry put to us, but none have emerged."

Jenkins, who now lives in Hampshire after remarrying, insisted he would help police find Billie-Jo's killer.

On his website, Justice for Sion Jenkins, he wrote: "Since I've been free I have been asked if I've now found peace and some kind of resolution.

"I will never feel resolution is possible while Billie's killer walks free.

"People encourage me to think of 'moving on' and putting everything behind me, but my priorities centre on getting justice for Billie.

"Since my acquittal I have been reading through every available piece of evidence.

"I have divided this into relevant sections and, with help from other people, I am in the process of trying to re-create the jigsaw of events.

"I will not rest until Billie's killer is brought to justice.

"I need to know who ended her life. So I work, read and investigate to this end.

"Billie will never be forgotten. I will never give up. That is my message to the person who took her life."