Sion Jenkins

The only person who really knows the answer to that question is Sion Jenkins himself. But the man was subjected to three trials, pursued by the state with unlimited resources at a cost of tens of millions of pounds, yet still a jury could not be persuaded to convict him of murdering his foster daughter Billie Jo. The evidence that did convict him at the end of his first trial, the microscopic blood spots found on his fleece jacket, was quickly undermined by the time of his second trial. Given that the patio where Billie jo was beaten to death with a metal tent peg was splattered with blood and tissue from her injuries it was unlikely that the only forensic evidence on her assailant would be such a fine microscopic spray. ”To put the 158 microscopic bloodspots into proportion, a vigorous sneeze will normally generate 20,000 tiny droplets of mucus, saliva and phlegm – that is, about 100 times as many as the number found on Sion’s clothing. ” (From The Murder of Billie Jo by Sion Jenkins and Bob Woffindon.) Close scrutiny of this evidence by experienced Canadian policeman Joseph Slemko among others, an internationally known expert in the field of bloodstain evidence, led him to conclude that for the pattern on Jenkins’ fleece jacket to have been created, Jenkins, “…would have to be in a crouching semi-kneeling postion, with the right side and right outer lower trouser leg exposed to the blood source and whith his torso twisted right and lowered to expose the outer chest area – a position not consistent with being an assailant, but consistent with him positioning himself to examine her.”  Slemko called the prosecution theory, that the pattern on the fleece had been created by “impact splatter” - ”highly improbable.” The only evidence left against him was “bad character” evidence, which hadn’t been admissable at his first trial. In this respect much was made of the fact that Jenkins had fabricated large parts of his CV when he applied for and secured the post of deputy head at William Parker school in Hastings. It made him look “dodgy” for sure. But it is a huge leap from fabricating a CV to bludgeoning a thirteen year old girl, for whom you hold parental responsiblity, to death. Jenkins held the post of deputy head for five years and on the strength of what he had achieved was invited to apply for the post of Head. Sexing up his CV was a stupid unnecessary thing to do. He did have a teaching certificate. He did have a masters degree in educational management – but to get out of London he invented a history of bonafides that prompted East Sussex County Council to state after his fraud was uncovered, ”He did not attend the University of Kent and has not obtained a BA (hons) degree, a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, an Advanced Diploma from the Open University or an Msc in Education Management from Kings College London. He did not attend Gordonstoun School. This is the information contained in his application for deputy headmaster.”  Mortifying stuff – but not evidence that he murdered anyone.