Two witnesses 'saw six-year-old Rikki Neave with his killer, 13, on the day he was murdered 27 years ago,' court hears
- Rikki Neave's body was found in woodland near his Peterborough home in 1994
- James Watson, who was 13 at the time, is standing trial at the Old Bailey
- Prosecutors claim Watson left Rikki's body naked and in a star-shaped pose
- Sylvia Clary recalled seeing Rikki with Watson on the day the boy was murdered
The witnesses have described seeing six-year-old Rikki Neave with his alleged killer on the day he was murdered 27 years ago.
School cleaner Sylvia Clary said she saw Rikki with then 13-year-old James Watson before he was strangled near his Peterborough home on November 28, 1994.
The boy's naked body was found posed in a star shape in woods off the Welland Estate the following day, the Old Bailey has heard.
Rikki's mother Ruth Neave, who had reported him missing, was originally accused of his murder but acquitted after a trial.
Following a cold case review in 2015, Watson's DNA was found on Rikki's clothes, which had been dumped in a nearby wheelie bin, jurors have heard, and he now stands trial accused of murder.
On Monday, Ms Clary, now 90, was called to give evidence at Watson's murder trial by video link from Nottingham.
She told jurors she still remembers the sighting outside her house on the estate between 8.30-8.45am which she told police about at the time.
James Watson, 40, is on trial for the murder of six-year-old Rikki Neave at the Old Bailey in London. He denies killing the youngster and dumping his body in woods near the victim's home in Peterborough in November 1994
Rikki was murdered near his home in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire on December 5, 1994 and his body was dumped in some nearby woods, circled
She was looking out of her kitchen window when she saw Rikki in his school uniform and anorak, she said.
John Price QC, prosecuting, asked: 'When you saw him, was he alone or was he with someone else?'
The prosecutor went on: 'Who was the person that he was with?'
The witness replied: 'Jamie Watson.'
Asked how she knew him, Ms Clary said: 'He lived at the back of our house and his father had put my patio in.'
She told jurors Watson, who was not in school uniform, had looked at her and waved.
Cross-examining, Jennifer Dempster QC, for Watson, said: 'If I suggested to you that was not James you saw with Rikki, what would you say?'
Ms Clary replied: 'No, it was.'
Another neighbour saw Rikki and Watson together on the morning the six-year-old went missing.
Evelyn Pollard, who lived in Rotherby Grove on the Welland Estate, said she saw the two schoolboys between 10:30 and 11am on the morning of Monday, November 28, 1994.
The jacket Rikki was wearing when he was killed was recovered from a wheelie bin close to where his body was found
The muddy trousers recovered from the scene after being dumped into a wheelie bin a short distance from Rikki's body
Prosecutors claim Watson, pictured, saw an episode of Crimewatch featuring the investigation which revealed the existence of 'scientific evidence'
Rikki's mother Ruth Neave, pictured right with her husband Gary Rogers was initially charged with her son's murder but was later acquitted
Prosecutors claim Watson's assertion that he had lifted up Rikki to peer over a fence was incorrect as there was no fence at the location in November 1994
Jurors were previously told the killer remained with the victim's body for an hour and made no attempt to conceal it.
Rikki's mother Ruth Neave was wrongly accused of his murder and cleared by a jury in 1996.
Jurors have heard sophisticated DNA testing, used on Rikki's clothes in a 'cold case review' in 2015, found a 'definitive match' with Watson.
Now aged 40, Watson denies murdering Rikki, between November 28 and 29, 1994.
Watson, now 40, of no fixed address, denies murder.
The trial continues.
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