Former deputy headteacher Sion Jenkins was today facing the start of his third trial for the alleged murder of his teenage foster daughter Billie-Jo.

Jenkins, 47 and former headteacher-designate at all-boys William Parker School, Hastings, returns to the Old Bailey for a trial expected to last up to ten weeks.

He denies murdering 13-year-old Billie-Jo Jenkins at the family home in Lower Park Road, Hastings, on February 15, 1997.

Jenkins was found guilty of killing the Helenswood schoolgirl at Lewes Crown Court in 1998.

The conviction was quashed at the second attempt by Appeal Court judges last year.

A subsequent retrial at the Old Bailey earlier this year ended when the jury failed to reach a verdict. Now Jenkins faces another trial, this time presided over by Mr Justice Clarke.

Up to two weeks of legal argument is expected before the jury is sworn in.