Jenny’s parents release new message to her killer.

THE parents of murdered shopworker Jenny Nicholl last night said it might be “better for society” if her killer continues to deny his guilt – because it means he will stay in prison.

On the fourth anniversary of the teenager’s disappearance, Brian and Ann Nicholl revealed how the Glastonbury festival helped them remember their music-loving daughter.

The couple spoke out yesterday for the first time since father-of-two David Hodgson failed to win his freedom at the appeal court.

In a message to supporters published on the family website, the Nicholls said Hodgson’s appeal bid “reaffirmed his total selfishness”.

Jenny disappeared after leaving the family home in Richmond, North Yorkshire, on June 30, 2005.

Hodgson, 49, was found guilty of her murder in February 2008. But he has continued to deny his guilt and refused to reveal how the teenager died or where he hid her body.

The Nicholls expressed a desire to see Hodgson accept his guilt, although they added: “Though, to be frank, his selfishness has become so ingrained, it might even be of benefit to society – as the longer he maintains this stance, the longer he will remain in prison.”

The couple said they took solace from the kind words expressed by the appeal judges.

They said: “Jenny has been portrayed more accurately and her wee soul didn’t have to be shaken any more, like it was at the trial in 2008 by David Hodgson, his defence team and certain members of his family.

“We hope that slowly but surely the misplaced loyalty acted out by some members of his family will start to subside.

They, too, have some soul-searching to do as they sought to blame Jenny for their woes.”

At the trial last year, it emerged that the unemployed gardener was having an affair with the 19-year-old when she went missing.

The appeal in March centred around new evidence from a forensic linguist, surrounding text messages that prosecutors said Hodgson sent from Jenny’s mobile phone.

In her summing up, Lady Justice Hallett said the evidence “did nothing” to boost the defence case.

The couple said: “One could argue that it was a complete waste of taxpayer’s money, though our justice system has evolved in a way that allows the defence team to almost automatically launch an appeal, no matter how futile or ludicrous it may seem.

“At the very least, the failed appeal has strengthened the conviction and it was reassuring to listen to the judges question the new evidence.”

The couple revealed how they thought about their daughter as they watched coverage of the weekend’s Glastonbury festival.

After Jenny’s disappearance, DJs on local radio stations played her favourite song, The Wind Cries Mary, by Jimi Hendrix, in the hope she heard it.

“We wondered which bands Jenny would have liked, which new bands would she have taken to. Which songs would she have tried to learn on her guitar and strummed away in her bedroom, which festivals would she have gone to over the last four years if she had not needlessly been taken from us,” they said.