Rikki Neave Case: Brother Speaks Out as James Watson Denies Murder
Naked and strangled, young Rikki Neave’s body was found near his Peterborough home on 29 November 1994. Now, 30 years on, James Watson—just 13 when Rikki died—is on trial for murder but firmly denies the charges.
James Watson Flees UK Months After Arrest
The Old Bailey heard the drama unfold as Watson, now 40, fled Britain just three months after being arrested. The case was reopened in April 2016, and Watson, arrested then, stayed in Northamptonshire under investigation before vanishing abroad.
He left the UK with another man in a motorhome, making contact only with his sister, Clair Perna, from France.
Sister Reveals Brother’s Fear and Desperation
Ms Perna, 43, told the court her brother admitted he “was in a lot of trouble and he had made a huge mistake”—specifically that he had “messed up” by leaving the country.
“Next time he rang, he said, ‘I need help. I’m in more trouble than I imagined and I need to get back to the UK’,” she said.
Ms Perna advised him to contact a friend in Porto, Portugal, to sort emergency travel documents at the embassy. She informed police when Watson entered the embassy, expecting immediate aid.
Instead, Watson was arrested and deported back to Britain, she revealed.
Family Ties and Untold Stories
Growing up on the Welland Estate in Peterborough with their father after their parents separated in 1990, Ms Perna and Watson’s paths diverged—she moved away with their mother, while he was placed in a children’s home nearby.
She denied ever knowing the Neave family or visiting them with her half-brother Andrew Bailey. Under tough questioning, Ms Perna admitted Watson never confided in her about the Rikki Neave case. “It was a surprise,” she said.
The trial continues amid growing public fascination with one of the UK’s chilling unsolved child murder cases.
