The family of a boy found hanging in a tree are demanding an apology from police after a coroner ruled he had been murdered - 42 years after officers dismissed his death as 'suicide' and threw away crucial evidence.
Mark Billington, 15, vanished from his home in Yardley, Birmingham, in September 1984 after telling his family he was going out on his bike to fly his kite.
His body was eventually found nine weeks later hanging from a tree in an isolated copse off the A45 in Meriden, near Solihull, six miles from his home.
Detectives quickly decided the popular paper boy had taken his own life and an open verdict was recorded at his inquest in 1998.
West Midlands Police later reopened the case as a murder investigation in 2002 but the rope found around his neck and some of his clothing had been discarded hampering any chance of a DNA breakthrough.
Mark's family - who always believed he had been killed - campaigned for the original inquest verdict to be quashed and permission for a new inquest was granted by the High Court last year.
It finally took place this week with a coroner ruling he had been unlawfully killed after hearing Mark had been found hanging from a tree using an 'intricate three-knot rope system'.
Pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer said the rope had been 'tied unusually' and it was improbable Mark could have tied the knots himself.
The teenager also had weakness on the left side of his body and struggled to maintain a grip.
Mark's younger sister Cheryl Jeyes, 49, a special needs teacher, welcomed the new verdict but said she would be writing to West Midlands Police asking for an apology.
'Within a few days the detectives had decided along with the pathologist that he had taken his own life,' she said.
'They got rid of his clothes and the rope and effectively closed the case without a proper investigation.
'I know the police are different now but it is still the same force and the failings back then took away any possibility of Mark's killer ever being caught. We are all still living it now.'
Speaking about her brother, she added: 'He was a very kind and gentle boy who loved animals, did not like violence and was very popular especially with elderly people on his paper round.
'He would pop to the chip shop for them or help them with their shopping.'
Paperboy Mark BIllington's death in 1984 was originally treated as suicide by police
Police later said Mark's death was murder and three men were arrested but never charges
Mark's brother Philip Billington (left), sister Cheryl Jeyes and father Royston Billington following the new inquest in Birmingham this week.
The new inquest heard that in the days leading up to his disappearance on September 1, 1984, his parents had no concerns about any mental health issues and going missing was 'completely out of character'.
The couple had adopted Mark as a baby.
Mark's father, Roy Billington described him as 'lovely' and a 'quiet lad' who loved animals, collecting stamps and riding his bike.
He said: 'He had so many good and joyful days in his short life. He is terribly missed, the pain is as real today as it was the day he was taken from us.'
On the day he disappeared Mark had done his paper round as normal. He was later seen flying a kite in the park, known locally as The Rec, with a group of five other boys before going into the Birmingham and Bridgewater Building Society making a deposit of £8 from his paper round.
A witness later reported seeing his bike parked up just off the A45 but his body was not discovered until the morning of November 11 by four people who had gone to the woods to hunt.
Senior Birmingham and Solihull Coroner Louise Hunt told the hearing that Mark probably died on or around the day he disappeared.
She said: 'It's extremely unlikely he could have harmed himself in the way he was found hanged.'
She added: 'I'm satisfied that Mark was murdered and there is no evidence that he took his own life.
'The rope was an intricate three-knot system akin to a pulley.'
The coroner concluded that she was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Mark was 'unlawfully killed'.
She added: 'I think it's right that the record has been put straight.'
Mark's family believe he was a victim of peadophile Brian Field, who died in prison in 2024
Daily Mail front page from November 2001 after Field was jailed. Police said they believed he could have claimed other victims in the three decades before he was trapped by a DNA sample
Ms Jeyes, who was seven when he died, welcomed the verdict but told of her anger that it had taken 42 years for authorities to formally acknowledge he had been killed.
Their mother Wyn died two years ago without ever learning what happened.
Mrs Jeyes said: 'Mum died two years ago still not knowing who had killed her son. She would have recurring nightmares about him - one where he was running through woods and she could never catch him to protect him and one where she would see him walking up the garden wearing the same clothes he was in when he died but as a grown man.
'At the original inquest our Dad was actually passed the branch with the rope still attached to it when he was in the witness box. He still doesn't understand why. It has haunted him ever since.
'It is a big injustice our family have suffered and we have been let down on a lot of levels.
'As children my other brother Philip and I we were told that somebody nasty had taken Mark and hurt him and he wouldn't be coming home. It left us in a permanent state of fear, thinking the same could happen to us.'
She said the original inquest verdict remained for decades and it was only the family's determination which led to the High Court quashing the verdict and ordering a fresh inquest.
'Why did it take 42 years for the truth about our brother's death to be formally recognised?' she said.
'Why was our family left to fight for so long? And why after everything our family has endured have we still not received an apology from West Midlands Police?'.
'We believe we are owed an explanation.'
She said there were still many unresolved questions about Mark's final hours, the circumstances around his death and the handling of the original investigation.
One murder theory examined by police was that Mark had discovered a 'bottle scam' operated by boys who returned bottle tops to various newsagents for money.
Three men were arrested in connection with his death but never charged and Mark's family said they remained unconvinced by the theory.
They suspected that he could have been the victim of a sex attack by convicted killer Brian Field, who was jailed for life in 2001 for the 1968 murder of 14-year-old Roy Tutill.
Field, who died in prison two years ago aged 85, lived a ten minute walk from Mark's home and was also linked to the disappearance of the so-called 'Milk Carton Kids', David Spencer and Paddy Warren, aged 11 and 13, who vanished on Boxing Day 1996 and whose bodies have never been found.
Mrs Jeyes said: 'I wrote a letter to Field a few years ago. It seemed the most plausible explanation we had heard but I never heard back.'
When Mark was found, his trousers had been pulled down to his ankles but his body was so badly decomposed that it could not be established whether he had been sexually assaulted, drugged or poisoned.
Police also threw away the car towrope Mark was found hanging from as well as some of his clothes which meant officers on the Historic Murder Review Team were denied a chance to test for vital DNA clues when the technology became available.
Jenny Birch, head of homicide at West Midlands Police, admitted that there had been 'failings' in the delays in finding the kite, Mark's body and the destruction of evidence in 1984. She said the force 'now had a much higher standard'.
Appealing for anyone with new information to come forward, Mrs Jeyes said: 'We ask you think about Mark. A shy gentle schoolboy, who had his whole life ahead of him. If anyone knows anything still please, please come forward.
'Our brother can't speak for himself, but we will never stop speaking for him.'
West Midlands Police said: 'Our focus remains on justice for Mark and our thoughts are with his family and friends who will never forget him, they deserve the closure they need.
'As with all unsolved crimes, we remain ready to follow up any new information or lines of enquiry.'
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