Murder of Rikki Neave

The Tragic Life of Rikki Neave.

Rikki Neave had a horrible life before it unexpectedly ended at the age of 6. By the time he was 3 years old, his mother had often left him outside in the cold in the dead of night, weeping until neighbors phoned social services. Citizens of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire reported noticing Ruth Neave hanging her son over a bridge and writing ‘idiot’ on his forehead in a felt-tip pen. She rubbed his mouth out with washing-up liquid and burned him with matches. Ruth also slapped Rikki in the face, hit him, and often sent him out at night to bring drugs.

On the 28th of November, 1994, Rikki left for school and never came back. His nude corpse was discovered the next day in the woods close to his residence. He had been strangled.

Ruth Neave faced trial for her son's killing two years later but was released by a jury. She was however sentenced to 7 years in jail for severe child neglect.

A Crimewatch appeal broadcast on the 20th anniversary of his death directed officials to release an e-fit of two teenage boys they wished to talk to in connection with the murder.

The pair had been seen stepping out of the woods where Rikki's corpse was discovered on the morning of 29 November.

Just last month in February, Assistant Chief Constable Paul Fullwood informed: "The cold case inquiry into Rikki's killing was undertaken by the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit in 2014.

"We began re-investigating the murder in 2015 and following extensive investigative work, we have now been approved by the Crown Prosecution Service to arrest James Watson in connection with his death."