A murderer has been jailed for life for killing a six-year-old boy almost three decades ago.
James Watson, 41, lured little Rikki Neave to the woods near his home in Peterborough before killing him on November 28, 1994.
He throttled the boy from behind with a ligature or anorak collar, to fulfil a “morbid fantasy” he had told his mother about three days before.
Watson, then 13, stripped Rikki and posed his naked body in a star shape for sexual gratification, deliberately “exhibiting” him near a children’s woodland den.
The monster was found guilty of murder earlier this year after an 11-week trial at the Old Bailey.
He was today sentenced to life with a minimum term of 15 years.
Rikki’s sister Rebecca Maria Harvey said her brother has now finally received justice – three decades on from his murder.
Rebecca today broke down as she addressed the Old Bailey during Watson’s sentencing today.
Addressing the killer, but not using his name, she said: “After all these years of living your life … you finally get your comeuppance and Rikki Lee Harvey finally gets justice.”
Paying tribute to her brother, she added: “Although I was the eldest, it wasn’t like that as he would look after me.
“Losing Rikki was like losing the other half of me.
“I still wake up every day thinking it was a nightmare. I never had a brother to grow up with.
“Rikki is the one who is not here and lost his life, but the effect this had on me and my family is just never-ending.”
She added: “I just cannot understand what happened or why.
“This has been so traumatic, not knowing what happened to him or why. Not only did I lose Rikki, but I lost my whole family.
“I miss him so much. All of our lives have been turned upside down and nothing has been the same since.
“After all these years, it is about time Rikki has justice.”
Rikki’s mum Ruth Neave was originally accused of killing him, however she was acquitted at a trial in 1996.
The mum-of-four was convicted of child cruelty.
Watson was only caught when his DNA was identified on the victim’s clothes following a re-examination of the case two decades after Rikki’s death.
He was originally interviewed by police in the days after the murder in Peterborough, but gave a false alibi.
The Old Bailey also heard a victim impact statement from Rochelle Orr, one of Rikki’s younger sisters.
She said: “I was only three when Rikki was murdered and I was removed from my family. After I entered the care system I suffered severe mental health issues.
“I remember Rikki feeding me, washing me and help me with my clothes.
“He has missed so much or our lives, happy times that we have had. I also wonder what he would be like if he was still here but, sadly, I will never know because he was taken from me.”
Ms Orr looked at Watson in the dock at points.
Mum Ruth Neave, who was convicted of child cruelty following her trial, did not attend sentencing today, although her victim impact statement was read out in court.
“Rikki was the most beautiful person ever. I miss all of his cheekiness, his laughter,” she said.
“Why would someone kill such a beautiful child? I know I smacked him when he was naughty, but I hated it. I could not tell him off without.”
“Yes I used to shout at him and swear, but that never killed him, did it?
“My Rikki was a little firecracker – I could not have wished for a better son, he was adorable. I love you with all my heart and soul, he was my soulmate.
“I had my children snatched out of my arms in the middle of the night because the police were so adamant that I had killed Rikki and would then kill my daughters.
“I feel dead inside, he was the only son I had. Rikki’s murder left a massive hole in our lives and in our hearts.
“I miss him so much that it feels like I have had my heart ripped out.”
Jennifer Dempster QC, defending Watson, said her client’s most substantial mitigation was his age at the time of the offence.
She also said there were “particularly sensitive matters” in Watson’s life – not aired in court – which made him vulnerable and he was taken into care in 1993 after being assaulted by his father.
She said: “The defendant himself was a victim at the hands of others.
“The defendant’s education and general childhood was affected by being let down by a variety of adults in his life who ought not to have done so.”
Ms Dempster added: “This was a young man – a young boy – who really had no stability in his life.”
She added that there was no evidence “in any way, shape or form” that Watson sexually assaulted Rikki.
Rikki’s body was found the day after he went missing.
Watson had obsessed over newspaper coverage of the killing, copying front page stories at school.
During sentencing today, Mrs Justice McGowan, the judge, said: “Rikki was a child too willing to trust and engage with strangers.
“He never had the chance to be happy and lead a normal and fulfilling life. That opportunity was denied to him by his murder.”
She added: “After his death he was stripped naked and the body was laid out on the ground spreadeagled.
“A button was missing from his school uniform shirt. A matching button was found on a leaf near the body, showing clearly that he had been undressed at that location.”
Watson showed no emotion as he was sentenced.
Mrs Justice McGowan said he would only ever be released after serving the minimum term of 15 years – less the more than two years spent in custody – and once the Parole Board was satisfied he would no longer present a risk to the public.
Clare Forsdike, a senior crown prosecutor at the CPS, said: “The life sentence given to James Watson today brings to an end the horrific case of the murder of six-year-old Rikki Neave in 1994.
“I am very proud of the hard work done by the Crown Prosecution Service and Cambridgeshire Police to catch and prosecute James Watson, who has never accepted responsibility for what he did.
“Rikki’s family continue to live with his tragic loss and all our thoughts remain with them.”
In April, Watson, now 41, was found guilty of murder by a majority after an Old Bailey jury deliberated for 36 hours and 31 minutes.
Key evidence included Rikki’s last meal, of Weetabix, which fixed his time of death at about noon.
It meant Rikki was killed shortly after being seen with Watson heading to the woods where he used to play.
Rikki’s muddy Clarks shoes also indicated his walk into the woods was a one-way trip.
The Old Bailey heard how Watson’s sexual interest in younger boys was known to police, who interviewed him over an allegation that he molested a five-year-old in 1993.
An ex-girlfriend later said he had strangled her during sex in woods and killed a bird and spread its wings, in a sinister reconstruction of Rikki’s murder.
The judge said there was no evidence of sexual activity with Rikki’s body, although Watson had “a sexual interest in little boys”.
In a police interview in 2016, Watson attempted to explain his DNA’s presence on Rikki’s clothes by claiming he picked him up to look at diggers through a hole in a fence.
Watson, who has a long criminal record for convictions including stealing cars, fled to Portugal while on bail on suspicion of murder, but was extradited back to Britain
