CPS to review whether to take action against man arrested in connection with Rikki Neave murder after bail ends

James Watson, 35, was arrested on April 19 this year and was due to answer bail today, Tuesday December 20.

Police have not seen the need to ask Watson to answer bail as planned as he is already in prison for breaching the terms of his bail by fleeing the country to Portugal earlier this year.

He is therefore no longer under arrest for the murder of Rikki Neave, but police said the CPS is still reviewing the case.

A police spokesman said: “CPS are currently working with Police to review all material gathered from both investigations and therefore the 35-year-old man will not be asked to return on bail as previously planned for the 20th December.”

Watson was first arrested in April over the unsolved murder of Rikki Neave. The six-year-old schoolboy was found strangled to death on the same estate in Peterborough where Watson grew up. James Watson posted selfies while on holiday in Portugal in July.

The 35-year-old had been on bail after being arrested in connection with the death of six-year-old Rikki Neave. Watson, a father-of-one, has remained on bail since his arrest and was living in a hostel until he fled the country with a friend in a campervan in July.

He was recaptured and taken to Bedford Prison.

Rikki Neave was six-years-old when he was murdered in Peterborough in November, 1994. He was last seen leaving for school at around 9am on the morning of November 28th.

Rikki’s body was found in a wooded area of Eye Road, close to Willoughby Court at 12:05pm the following day - five minutes’ walk from his house in the Welland Estate.

A post mortem examination concluded that Rikki had died as a result of a compression of the neck – strangulation.

In June last year (2015), officers from the three-force Major Crime Unit relaunched the investigation into Rikki’s murder with a team of dedicated officers and specialists assigned.

Over the past 18 months officers have been methodically building a timeline of Rikki’s last movements and made a national appeal for help via the BBC’s Crimewatch programme.

Anyone with information about Rikki’s death should contact police on 01480 425882 or email [email protected]. Alternatively, you can give information anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.