Billie-Jo jury visits crime scene

The jury arrived at the house in Lower Park Road in a white coach

The jury in the Sion Jenkins retrial has visited the house where the deputy head is alleged to have battered foster daughter Billie-Jo to death.

The six men and six women arrived in Hastings, East Sussex in a white coach escorted by police motorbikes before entering the house with the judge.

Billie-Jo, 13, was found with head injuries after being hit several times with a metal tent peg in February 1997.

Mr Jenkins, 48, who now lives in Lymington, Hampshire, denies murder.

Police officers

The Old Bailey has been told he would not be visiting the house in Lower Park Road, at his own request.

Judge Mr Justice David Clarke, the jurors, prosecution and defence lawyers went into the house on Friday accompanied by police officers.

They were also taken to the rear of the property where they were shown the exact spot where Billie-Jo's body was found.

Before the fatal attack, the teenager had been painting patio doors at the home she shared with Mr Jenkins, her foster mother Lois and the couple's four daughters.

After an hour inside and outside the house, the 12 members of the jury were led on a walk around Alexandra Park, which is directly opposite.

Mr Jenkins is facing his second trial this year at the Old Bailey after a jury in the summer failed to reach a verdict.

He was convicted of Billie-Jo's murder and jailed for life in 1998, then freed on appeal in 2004.

The trial continues.