Murder of Rikki Neave viewers left ‘sick to their stomachs’ during ‘sad & disturbing’ documentary
VIEWERS of the harrowing documentary detailing the killing of Rikki Neave have been left “sick to their stomach” by the case.
The heartbreaking Channel 5 broadcast, The Murder of Rikki Neave: The Mother’s Story, has sent shivers across the nation tonight.
The six-year-old was tragically strangled to death just five minutes from his home in Peterborough, Cambs, in November 1994.
James Watson, now 41 but 13 at the time, killed the youngster before “deliberately posing” his body into a star shape.
Now the chilling new documentary, which aired on Wednesday at 9pm, has delved into the depths of the original case, the investigation in court and the huge wave of media attention.
Brits were left fighting back tears during the programme and branded the hour-long segment “sad and disturbing”.
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Many took to social media to share the opinions on the chilling programme, branding it “harrowing and upsetting”.
One Twitter user wrote: “Only half way through, I feel sick.”
Another added: “This world absolutely sends me sick to the stomach.”
A third tweet read: “My heart is breaking for that poor little boy.”
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Another chimed in: “Poor child and poor mother. She is clearly very Poorly but it’s her time to speak and tell her story.”
It discussed the investigation that led to mother Ruth standing trial for her son’s murder – before she was cleared of killing the six-year-old in 1996.
She criticised the original investigation and said police and social services “totally ruined mine and my daughters’ lives”.
The mum was the prime suspect in the probe, while vile monster Watson walked the streets.
He was found guilty of murdering the youngster last week following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Ruth, whose health has significantly deteriorated, recalled the morning her son vanished in the Channel 5 documentary.
She said: “He had his uniform on, he had breakfast on the table and off he went – without even saying a word.”
‘BEAUTIFUL LITTLE BOY’
After her “beautiful little boy” Rikki failed to return home from school that afternoon she became concerned and raised the alarm.
The mum continued: “He was well late. He never came home that late. I couldn’t find him so I went across the road and shouted for him.”
Ruth was heavily criticised in the wake of her son’s disappearance for not initially joining in the search.
But she hit back: ” I’m not walking around looking for him because I’ve got other kids.”
“Vulnerable” Rikki was known to social services and had been placed on the “at risk register” at the time of his death.
Former Mayor of Peterborough Bobbie Day then told of the fateful day that she discovered Rikki’s body.
She explained: “Completely out of the blue, I got this phone call one morning from a reporter.
“She said ‘do you know there is a little boy missing on the estate?’ That alarmed me straight away.
I’ve never ever forgotten what I saw. I saw Rikki laying there.
Bobbie Day
“I decided to go and do my own search myself. I went everywhere looking for him. Through all the dens, shouting and shouting at him.
“Nobody had seen him. I kept coming across these two police officers. They said ‘have you found him?’
“I said I’ve looked everywhere apart from over there in those trees. They said well come with us.
“And I’ve never ever forgotten what I saw. I saw Rikki laying there.”
Jurors heard how evil Watson had laid out his naked body to create the “desired image of it in death”, before dumping his school uniform in a wheelie bin around 150 yards away.
Watson had been seen with the youngster on the day he vanished and was spoken to by police at the time, the court was told.
But he told “many lies”, claimed he did not know Rikki and made no mention of “physical contact”, it was said.
It was only when Watson’s DNA showed on Rikki’s clothes that he was charged with murder.