What Happened (According to Siôn Jenkins)
On that Saturday, at the end of the half-term holiday, Lois took Annie, Esther and Maya shopping to Safeway’s. Later on she telephoned Siôn to say that she couldn’t pay for the groceries as she’d forgotten her cheque-book, and asked him to bring it for her. When he got there, they realised that he’d taken an old book with no cheques left in it. So he had to return home and go back again to Safeway’s with a current cheque-book.
They then all returned home. Lottie, who’d been at the cinema with friends, was taken to a clarinet class with another friend by Mrs A, that friend’s mother. Siôn and Lois then arranged that while Lois took Esther and Maya for a walk on the beach, Siôn would pick up Lottie from her clarinet class. As it happened, he didn’t know where that was, so they drove round so that Lois could point out the house to him.
While Lois went to the beach, Siôn set the older children to doing household tasks: Annie cleaned out a storeroom (and, in doing so, placed three metal tent pegs, originally used to secure an old garden swing, on the coal bunker in the garden); and Billie-Jo swept the patio.
Siôn then took Annie with him to fetch Lottie, leaving Billie-Jo painting the patio doors. They picked up Lottie, and also took her friend home. Mrs A. estimated that they dropped her daughter off at about 3.15–3.20.
When they got home. Siôn realised they would need some white spirit and so, taking Annie and Lottie with him, drove to Do-It-All.
Having arrived there, he realised that, exactly like Lois earlier in the day, he’d forgotten to take any means of payment with him, so it was another wasted journey.
They returned home, and went into the house.
Billie-Jo was lying in a pool of blood on the patio. Siôn went in, crouched down beside her, and ushered the two distraught children out of the room. He examined her more carefully, and immediately made a 999 call for an ambulance. He then telephoned a neighbour. Eight minutes after the first 999 call, at her suggestion, he made another.
As the ambulance men came, he went outside to his car, and got in, momentarily wondering whether he should put the hood up as it looked like rain. He quickly went back inside.
Later, Lois was contacted and they all left home to stay with neighbours while police combed their house and garden for clues.