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April Jones murder was sexually motivated, court told April Jones's blood was found at Mark Bridger's home, court hears
(35 minutes later)
The murder of the schoolgirl April Jones was sexually motivated and her killer "played a cruel game" as he tried to cover up the killing, a court has heard. Traces of April Jones's blood and burnt bone fragments believed to be from a child's skull were found at the home of the man accused of abducting and murdering the five-year-old, a jury has been told.
Mark Bridger, 47, is on trial at Mold crown court accused of abducting and murdering the five-year-old, who vanished while playing on her bike near her home in Machynlleth, mid Wales, on 1 October last year. April's body has never been found. The court also heard that a number of knives including a burnt boning knife were found near a wood-burning stove at the home of Mark Bridger, an experienced slaughter-man skilled at handling sharp blades.
The prosecution alleges that Bridger has an interest in child pornography and child murder and rape cases including the Soham murders. Opening the case against Bridger, Elwen Evans QC alleged that April was the victim of a "sexually motivated" attack. She said police had found images of "child pornography" on Bridger's computer and on the day of April's disappearance from the town of Machynlleth in mid-Wales he allegedly viewed a cartoon picture of a girl being raped while restrained.
Opening the case for the prosecution, Elwen Evans QC told the jury that Bridger was seen putting April in his Land Rover. Also found on Bridger's computer were images of local girls, including April, the jury at Mold crown court was told. In addition Bridger, 47, apparently had an interest in child murders, including the Soham case, the court heard.
Evans said: "It's the defendant's case that he admits that he drove her away. He admits that April is dead. He accepts that he killed her or probably killed her. He accepts that he must have got rid of her body." Evans said Bridger played a "cruel game" after seizing April and murdering her by claiming that he had accidentally hit her in his Land Rover, bundled her into his car and then forgotten what had happened afterwards. She said the prosecution's case was that he knew "full well" what happened to April but was choosing not to say.
She said Bridger had not told police where the body was. "He says to us that he does not know, that he cannot remember," she said. Bridger denies abduction, murder and intending to pervert the course of justice by disposing of, concealing or destroying April's body, which has never been found.
"The prosecution case is this: that Mark Bridger abducted April, that he murdered her and that he went to enormous lengths to try to cover up what he had done. It's our case that the defendant's actions – abduction, murder, covering up what he has done – that his actions were sexually motivated. Evans told the jury of nine women and three men that on 1 October last year April, "happy and smiling", was out playing with a friend. She got into Bridger's Land Rover and he drove her away. "That was the last that anyone apart from the defendant saw April," she said.
"He has played, we say, a cruel game in pretending not to know what he has done to her. It's a game to try and save himself and try to manipulate his way out of his full responsibility in what he has done." The prosecutor said that the largest search in British policing history followed. She added: "We can say that April was happy and smiling when she got into the defendant's vehicle because April's best friend saw her abduction take place. She saw the defendant speaking to April, she saw April getting into his Land Rover. She saw the defendant drive April away."
Evans said blood was found at Bridger's house, along with burnt bone fragments. She told the jury that experts say the bone fragments could be from a human child. A butcher's boning knife was also found at his home, she said. Evans said Bridger's case was that he accepted he killed April or probably killed her and that he must have got rid of her body. But he says he cannot remember how he disposed of the body. He claimed a combination of drink, panic and adrenalin had led to his memory loss.
The jury was told that Bridger had images of April and other local girls on his computer. But the prosecution alleges that Bridger actually went to "enormous lengths to try to cover up what he had done". She claimed that had April's body been found his motive – a sexual one – would have been exposed.
Bridger, wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt and striped tie, sat staring ahead as he listened to the evidence. A large snake tattoo could be seen on his left forearm and he wore headphones to help him hear the proceedings. "He has played a cruel game," she said. "It's a game to try to save himself and manipulate himself out of his responsibilities."
The disappearance of April, who had cerebral palsy, sparked a massive outpouring of support for her family, with hundreds of people joining the search. Bridger, of Ceinws, denies abducting and murdering April, and unlawfully disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice. Evans said examination of Bridger's laptop gave an insight into his "interests and mindset" and gave "context" to his behaviour to April. He had a "clear interest in child pornography, photos of local girls and child murder cases", Evans said.
Search terms he had allegedly typed into his computer included "naked five-year-old girls". He had pictures of April on his computer and had also shown an interest in the murders of 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham, Cambridgeshire.
When interviewed by the police, Bridger claimed he had looked at some of the explicit images to understand the development of his own daughter and to help her become a model. He said he had also stored images because he planned to make a complaint about them.
The court also heard that on the day of the alleged abduction he broke up with a girlfriend and contacted a number of women asking if they wanted to go out for a drink.
Evans said Bridger claimed not to have taken April back to his house but to have driven around with her body seeking medical help. But she said there had been an "extensive clean-up operation at his house". She claimed this was to dispose of April's clothes and body.
Despite the clean-up, police found traces of April's blood in the living room, hall and bathroom of his home, it was claimed. There was a "concentration" of her blood in front of a wood burner in the living room under a carpet and on the hearth. There were a number of knives around the burner including a burnt boning knife, Evans said.
The prosecutor added that Bridger was an "experienced slaughter-man" who knew how to use knives.
Small burnt fragments of bones were found. Because they had been subject to high temperatures it had not been possible to identify the fragments but experts believed they were from a human "juvenile".
Bridger told police he had seen April playing with her friend as he sat in his Land Rover on the Bryn-Y-Gog estate, the jury was told. When he went to drive away he was involved in an accident with April. April was injured and died.
He said he put her in the car to get medical help – though he did not actually do this, the prosecution said. April did not appear to be bleeding, he claimed. He said he drove around Machynlleth. He told police he could not remember what had happened but told them he had not sexually abused her.
The trial continues.
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