Rikki Neave murder trial: Judge says sentence killer James Watson receives 'will be determined largely by the age he was at the time of the offence he committed'

The sentence Rikki Neave’s killer will receive will be determined largely by the age he was at the time of the offence he committed, the judge in the case has said.

James Watson was just 13-years-old when he murdered six year old Rikki in November 1994 – but he escaped justice for nearly 30 years, before being found guilty today.

He will be sentenced on May 9, and has been told he will be given a life sentence.

However, the term he serves before being eligible for parole will take into account his young age at the time of the murder.

Mrs Justice McGowan said: “He will fall to be sentenced for something he did at the age of 13.

“The sentence for murder is one of life imprisonment. I have to set the minimum term he must serve before he can be considered for release.

“It will be determined largely by the age he was at the time of the offence he committed.”

Watson lured six-year-old Rikki to woods near his home in Peterborough on November 28 1994.

He strangled the boy from behind with a ligature or anorak collar to fulfil a “morbid fantasy” he had told his mother about three days before.

He stripped Rikki and posed his naked body in a star shape for sexual gratification, deliberately “exhibiting” him near a children’s woodland den, jurors were told.

Rikki was reported missing that evening by Ms Neave and found the next day.

Watson obsessed over newspaper coverage of the killing, copying front page stories at school.

The next month, he was interviewed as a witness by police after an elderly resident reported seeing him with Rikki on the nearby Welland Estate.

His lying account was unchallenged as police wrongly focused on a theory Ms Neave killed her son and used a buggy to dump his body.

Ms Neave, a mother-of-four, was cleared of Rikki’s murder in 1996 but jailed for seven years after admitting child cruelty.

Hannah Van Dadelszen, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the East of England, acknowledged prosecuting Ms Neave was “wrong”.

She said: “I am pleased that we have been able to deliver justice for all those who knew and loved Rikki, and I hope that for all those people that does bring a sense of closure to the case.”