Tears of Billie-Jo's sister

The daughter of convicted murderer Sion Jenkins broke down in tears in court today as she told how she found the blood-soaked body of her foster sister.

Charlotte Jenkins was 10 when she returned home to discover 13-year-old Billie-Jo bludgeoned to death. Now 18, Charlotte trembled with emotion as she stepped into the witness box to give evidence in her father's appeal against his conviction for Billie-Jo's murder.

Her eyes were red, her hands and lips quivered uncontrollably and she had to grasp the rail in front of her to steady herself.

Slowly she went back over the events of the day Billie-Jo died at their Hastings home in February,

1997. In a slight Australian accent - since her father's conviction she has lived in Tasmania with her mother - she described how he had picked her up from a clarinet lesson that afternoon.

Questioned by Clare Montgomerie QC, representing Jenkins, she described returning from a trip to a DIY store with her father and elder sister Annie. "I went into the house first and went into the dining room ... and I saw Billie-Jo," she said.

"What did your father do with you when you saw that?" asked Ms Montgomerie.

"He put me in the playroom with Annie," said Charlotte. Then her resolve crumbled and she pleaded: "Can I have a break, please?"

She was hurried from court by an usher through the judges' entrance as the trial was halted.

In the dock 46-year-old Jenkins, who is serving life for the murder, wiped a tear from his eye. The father of four was convicted at Lewes Crown Court in 1998. His first appeal was rejected before new evidence was referred back to the Appeal Court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Charlotte had been brought to court from Tasmania to repeat the statement she made to police the day after the murder, when her evidence supported her father.

Neither Charlotte nor Annie, now aged 20, were called to give evidence at the trial by defence lawyers. The court has heard they were "misled" by Jenkins's wife Lois, who claimed her two daughters had changed their minds.

The court was told both Charlotte and Annie support their father's claims that when they left to go to the DIY store, Billie-Jo was alive. She was battered to death with an 18-inch metal tent spike as she painted patio doors.

But today, after the court resumed, Charlotte denied claims her mother had lied to police about her evidence. The teenager said she "may of " told her mother before the trial that "she just knew" her father had killed Billie-Jo, albeit unintentionally.

She said she had felt guilty that there had been a delay in calling for an ambulance after they had found Billie-Jo dead.

She also recalled "something to do with" her father not wanting to hand his jumper to police for testing, but added: "It's really vague."

Her confusion was not caused by coaching or manipulation of her evidence by her mother but by reports of the case in newspapers.

After another break for her to compose herself, Charlotte was asked if she had ever believed her father was guilty. "I cannot remember," she said repeatedly.

She was then questioned about an interview she gave in 2002 to a different police force when she allegedly supported her father. Charlotte said her mother had not been "very happy" after the interview but she did not remember discussing it with her.

In written evidence heard in court today, Annie Jenkins recalled a holiday in France when she saw her father kick Billie-Jo.

She said her foster sister had gone wandering in a field and sprained her ankle. On her return she made a fuss which annoyed Sion Jenkins who kicked her.

"I witnessed it. My mum used to bring that up quite a lot," said Annie in the statement.

Jenkins's legal team claim the murderer could have been a mentallyill man, Mr X, who had been seen in the area at the time.

They also claim microscopic traces of Billie-Jo's blood found on Jenkins's jacket were left when he cradled her body in his arms.

The case continues.