Family hails payout refusal to foster father in murder case

They said the former deputy headteacher "had a cheek" to claim a reported 500,000 damages or his time spent behind bars before he was cleared of killing Billie-Jo Jenkins.

Mr Jenkins had insisted he "fitted all the criteria" for a payout after losing his liberty for six years, which led to his ex-wife deserting him with their four daughters.

But it was disclosed that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) had rejected his bid, officials saying that the Appeal Court made it clear that compensation should be paid when someone has been shown to be "clearly innocent".

The statement led Mr Jenkins' campaigners to condemn what they called an "insidious" remark by the MoJ and added: "In which universe does 'not guilty' mean 'not innocent'?"

Billie-Jo, 13, was found in a pool of blood with head injuries inflicted by a metal tent peg on the patio of the family's large Victorian home in Lower Park Road, Hastings, East Sussex, on February 15, 1997.

Mr Jenkins, at the time headteacher-designate at all-boys William Parker School in Hastings, maintained his innocence and insisted Billie-Jo must have been killed by an intruder while he visited a DIY store.

In 1998 he was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of murdering her and jailed for life but he had a retrial in 2005 after successfully appealing.

However, the jury failed to agree a verdict and a second retrial ended the same way in 2006, allowing him to walk free.

The widow of Billie-Jo's natural father, Bill Jenkins, who by coincidence shared the same surname, criticised the decision by Jenkins to submit a compensation claim in the first place.

Elizabeth Jenkins, 62, from Canning Town, east London, said: "Myself and the family think he had a cheek to put in for that money.

"I was pleased that he didn't get it because I don't think he should be a free man.

"As far as I'm concerned he should still be inside but he has just denied it all the time."

Mrs Jenkins, who wed her husband months before he died from cancer, said he would be pleased at the refusal of compensation by the Ministry of Justice.

She added: "He would be delighted that he was turned down because he felt in his heart that he didn't have any doubt about who did it."

In a newspaper interview in 2008 after the publication of his book, The Murder Of Billie-Jo, Jenkins said: "I believe the Government should compensate me for taking away my liberty for six years, which also meant I lost the childhood of my daughters."

Following the killing, his ex-wife, Lois, emigrated to Tasmania with their four daughters, who chose to have no contact with their father.

Mr Jenkins, who now lives in Hampshire after marrying new wife Tina Ferneyhough, insisted he would "not rest" until police found Billie-Jo's killer.

On his website, Justice for Sion Jenkins, he wrote: "Since I've been free, I have been asked if I've now found peace and some kind of resolution.

"I will never feel resolution is possible while Billie's killer walks free.

"I will not rest until Billie's killer is brought to justice."

A statement posted on the website described the Ministry of Justice statement as "disturbing" and said the original investigation was flawed, which had never been confronted.

It said: "The Ministry of Justice's insidious statement that it would not comment on individual cases but that damages for wrongful imprisonment were paid only when a person is shown to be 'clearly innocent' is disturbing.

"In which universe does 'not guilty' mean 'not innocent'?"