Old Bailey trial begins of Rikki Neave murder suspect
One of the last pictures of Rikki Neave with his five-month-old sister Sheridan. It was taken just before Rikki was murdered. - Credit: Cambs Times/ARCHANT
The trial of a man accused of murdering six-year-old Rikki Neave in 1994 has begun at the Old Bailey.
James Watson, 40, is charged with the murder of Rikki Neave in Peterborough between November 28 and November 29 1994.
Rikki disappeared after leaving home to walk to school at about 9am on November 28 1994.
His naked body was found the following day in woodland a few minutes' walk from his home in Redmile Walk, Welland, Peterborough.
He had been strangled and his uniform was dumped in a nearby bin.
The defendant would have been 13 years old at the time of Rikki's death.
The murder hunt for the killer of the six hear-old school-boy lay dormant until the Cambs Times was approached by Rikki’s mum, Ruth, and her husband Gary and a campaign began to persuade police to reopen the case.
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A cold case review into Rikki’s murder was later undertaken by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit.
The trial could last up to six weeks.
