Rikki Neave murder trial: Listen to 999 call made by Rikki's mum Ruth on day 6-year-old went missing

The 999 call made by Rikki Neave’s mum to report her son missing on the day he was murdered has been released by police.

Rikki was last seen alive by mum Ruth Neave at around 9.30am on November 28 1994.

Later that day he was murdered by James Watson. Watson (41) now faces a life sentence after being found guilty of murder at The Old Bailey.

In the 999 call, made at around 6pm, Ruth Neave tells the call handler she is reporting her son missing as he has not returned home from school.

She tells the call handler six year old Rikki was dressed in his school uniform when he went missing – describing his white shirt and ‘little blue coat.’

When asked if it was possible Rikki had gone to a friend’s house, Ruth said that he had never done that before, and was normally home ‘no later than quarter to four.’

Officers attended his home and extensive searches were carried out in the area, supported by local people.

The following day at 12.05pm Rikki’s body was discovered in the wooded area off Eye Road, close to Willoughby Court – a five-minute walk from his home.

A post mortem examination concluded that Rikki had died as a result of a compression of the neck – strangulation. It is believed he had been strangled from behind, using the zip from his coat.

The time of his death was estimated as being in the region of two hours after he had consumed his breakfast.

After murdering Rikki, Watson stripped him and left his naked body posed with legs and arms outstretched, before discarding the boy’s clothing in a nearby wheelie bin.

On 30 November officers searching Willoughby Court found Rikki’s clothing – grey trousers, a white shirt, black shoes and a blue coat – in a wheelie bin.

The condition of the clothing, given the weather at the time of the discovery, suggested they had been there since the day of Rikki's murder. Expert evidence proved from the mud on his shoes he had walked into the woods but not out again.

In 2015 an investigation into Rikki’s murder was relaunched, with a completely new team of officers looking at the case.

Using forensic techniques not available in 1994 Watson's DNA was found on tape used to take samples from Rikki's clothing.

Watson was spoken to at the time of the initial investigation as a witness, where he claimed he saw Rikki briefly, but for no more than a few seconds and described no physical contact between them.

Watson claimed he had been at Walton School in Mountsteven Avenue, Gunthorpe, on the morning of 28 November, before leaving for the Welland estate. Records from the time showed he did not attend school at all that day. Sightings of him also did not match the timeframes involved in walking from one area of Peterborough to the other if he attended school for part of the day.

In the days following Rikki’s death teachers at Watson’s school recalled him showing an intense interest in the murder. This included making six photocopies of the front page of the Peterborough Evening Telegraph displaying Rikki’s picture.

When interviewed following his arrest in 2016 Watson changed his account of the meeting with Rikki, claiming he had lifted him up so he could see over a fence to watch a digger at work.

The investigation continued and turned out to be the most complex and comprehensive conducted since the Major Crime Unit was introduced in 2012 and second in this respect only to the Soham murders in Cambridgeshire’s policing history.

Following this investigation Watson was charged with Rikki's murder on 17 February 2020 – a charge he denied.

He was found guilty on Thursday and will be sentenced next month.