Memories fail, Jenkins jury told

Billie-Jo was battered to death with an iron tent peg

The jury in the retrial of Sion Jenkins has been told to make allowances for failing memories since foster daughter Billie-Jo's murder eight years ago.

Old Bailey judge Mrs Justice Rafferty said jurors had to be sure the prosecution had proved Mr Jenkins killed the 13-year-old girl.

She told the six men and six women jurors she would send them out to consider their verdicts on Monday.

Mr Jenkins, 47, denies murdering Billie-Jo at their home in Hastings.

'Accurate recall'

"Billie was murdered eight years ago," the judge said on Thursday.

"Make allowances for failing memories over time, especially when you consider the evidence of Sion Jenkins.

"The greater the gap, the harder you may think it is for him accurately to recall what went on."

She said the prosecution had put forward two areas which demonstrated Jenkins' bad character.

Sion Jenkins has always denied murdering his foster daughter

He had lied about his qualifications when applying for jobs, including his application to become head teacher at the school in the East Sussex town where he was deputy.

Secondly, he was alleged to have kicked Billie-Jo on her injured leg a few months before she was killed.

The Crown had suggested these incidents showed Jenkins had a tendency to tell lies and to violence.

But Mrs Justice Rafferty told the jury: "You must not convict him only because he has a bad character.

"It cannot be used simply to bolster a weak case."

The prosecution claimed Mr Jenkins, now of Belgravia, London, bludgeoned Billie-Jo to death with an iron tent peg as she painted the patio doors at the family home.

Mr Jenkins, formerly of Aberystwyth, Wales, was jailed for life in 1998 and is being retried following an appeal.