Court hears Jenkins' story

SION JENKINS knew he would be a suspect for the murder of his foster daughter Billie-Jo, he told detectives in his first interview after his arrest.

Lewes Crown Court, Sussex, heard yesterday how 40-year-old Jenkins, a deputy headmaster, said he was not surprised at being questioned.

Jenkins denies murdering 13-year-old Billie-Jo with a metal spike as she painted the patio windows at the family home last year.

Prosecution barrister Charles Kemp and Detective Sergeant Ann Capon took the parts of Jenkins and detectives as they read transcripts of the interview to the jury.

After being cautioned, he told police: "I am clearly upset, but I recognise that I need to be here. I recognise that I would be considered a suspect."

He added: "After the event, I never considered for a moment that I would be a suspect. Some days after the event, I realised that I would be a suspect so although I am upset about being here, I am not surprised."

Jenkins then went through the events of the Saturday in February when Billie-Jo was killed. He repeated what he had said in a witness statement he had made three days earlier.

He described an incident in the morning when his wife, Lois, a social worker, told him that she had refused to let Billie-Jo meet a friend.

She believed Billie-Jo had called her a "bitch" under her breath. Jenkins said he wanted to confront Billie-Jo about this, but Lois told him not to.

The trial continues.