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April Jones murder: 'Happy face' as she got into vehicle | |
(35 minutes later) | |
A friend who was playing with five-year-old April Jones before she went missing told police she had a "happy face" as she got into a vehicle. | |
April disappeared near her home in Machynlleth, Powys, on 1 October, 2012. She has never been found. | April disappeared near her home in Machynlleth, Powys, on 1 October, 2012. She has never been found. |
The trial at Mold Crown Court of Mark Bridger, 47, who denies her abduction and murder, has been watching a police interview with April's friend. | |
In it the seven-year-old girl said the vehicle "looks familiar". | |
In the interview with a police officer made the day after April went missing, the girl said: "Me and her [April] were playing." | |
She said there was a "man by his van" and she described how she saw April "by the Land Rover van". | |
"I saw her by the person that was waiting by the van," she said. | "I saw her by the person that was waiting by the van," she said. |
Asked if she had seen the Land Rover there before, she said: "It looks familiar it does, because I have seen [two other people] in it before." | Asked if she had seen the Land Rover there before, she said: "It looks familiar it does, because I have seen [two other people] in it before." |
Later in the interview, she said: "She [April] didn't say that she was going to go in it." | Later in the interview, she said: "She [April] didn't say that she was going to go in it." |
She went on to say: "The man didn't take her in the van. She got in the van having a happy face." | |
The girl was asked: "How do you know it's a Land Rover?" | |
She described how she had seen a picture on her mother's phone and said: "It's a Land Rover... it's blue but it looks exactly the same." | |
The interviewer asked her to draw a Land Rover and she continued to draw as the interviewer asked her questions about the vehicle. | |
She said the wheels "were quite big" and remembered them being muddy. | |
'Waiting outside' | |
"All the windows on it were quite clean. The vehicle was clean but the tyres weren't," she said. | |
The girl said she first saw the Land Rover earlier on the afternoon April went missing. | |
"I didn't see it being parked but I saw it going behind the van... the BT one," she said. | |
Asked who she saw in the Land Rover, she said: "A man." | |
"The man got out of the van. He was waiting outside the van for someone... I don't know why she wanted to go because her mum and dad told her not to go into cars like that," she said. | |
She added: "She got in the car. She wasn't crying. She was happy. She got in the back of the van and it just drove off the same way it came." | |
She said she did not hear any talking because "I was too far away to hear it". | |
The friend said April got into the vehicle through the driver's door because the two back doors were locked and "they were broken". | |
Asked how she knew they were broken, she said: "April tried to open them, she did, and they wouldn't work... so she had to get through that way." | |
'Wearing a jacket' | |
"That's what I actually saw," she said. | |
She said April's brother arrived a few minutes later and said it was time for her to go home. | |
She gave April's bike to her brother and went back to their homes. | |
The alarm was then raised. | |
Describing the man, the girl said: "He had green or blue eyes, brown hair I think... I think he was wearing a jacket or a jumper... he was wearing some jeans and he was wearing some trainers..." | |
The girl is expected to give evidence later via video link from Aberystwyth. Two screens in court showed her watching the proceedings. She had a teddy bear on the desk in front of her. | |
As the day's proceedings got under way the judge, Mr Justice John Griffith Williams, reassured the girl before asking her: "Can you remember some months ago, going to Newtown and being interviewed by a police officer?" | As the day's proceedings got under way the judge, Mr Justice John Griffith Williams, reassured the girl before asking her: "Can you remember some months ago, going to Newtown and being interviewed by a police officer?" |
"Yes," she replied. | "Yes," she replied. |
The judge said: "What we're going to do is, we're going to watch that film and you are going to watch it as well. It's rather long and so we'll be taking a lot of breaks, just to help you." | The judge said: "What we're going to do is, we're going to watch that film and you are going to watch it as well. It's rather long and so we'll be taking a lot of breaks, just to help you." |
Mr Bridger stared up at the screen on the wall to his left. There were three security guards in the dock with him. | Mr Bridger stared up at the screen on the wall to his left. There were three security guards in the dock with him. |
April's parents, Coral and Paul, were in court again on Tuesday. | |
On Friday, the jury heard about her parents' last moments with her. | On Friday, the jury heard about her parents' last moments with her. |
A statement from her mother read out in court said she had been allowed out to play after "a little bit of a tantrum". | A statement from her mother read out in court said she had been allowed out to play after "a little bit of a tantrum". |
Coral Jones said that after 20 minutes it was getting dark and cold so she wanted her daughter to come back into the house. | Coral Jones said that after 20 minutes it was getting dark and cold so she wanted her daughter to come back into the house. |
She sent April's brother to look for her and he came home in a "hysterical state" saying she had been seen getting into a car with a man. | She sent April's brother to look for her and he came home in a "hysterical state" saying she had been seen getting into a car with a man. |
Mrs Jones immediately called police before she and her husband Paul searched the Bryn-Y-Gog estate, where they live. | Mrs Jones immediately called police before she and her husband Paul searched the Bryn-Y-Gog estate, where they live. |
Prosecutors have told the court that the defendant killed April in a sexually motivated attack and traces of her blood were found at his cottage. | Prosecutors have told the court that the defendant killed April in a sexually motivated attack and traces of her blood were found at his cottage. |
Prosecuting counsel Elwen Evans QC said the defendant burned evidence in his fire and used detergent as part of an "extensive clean-up". | Prosecuting counsel Elwen Evans QC said the defendant burned evidence in his fire and used detergent as part of an "extensive clean-up". |
But blood stains found within the cottage matched the DNA of the five-year-old, she said. | But blood stains found within the cottage matched the DNA of the five-year-old, she said. |
The defendant told police during interviews he accidentally hit April with his car and "panicked," the jury was told. | The defendant told police during interviews he accidentally hit April with his car and "panicked," the jury was told. |
The accused man also denies intending to pervert the course of justice. | The accused man also denies intending to pervert the course of justice. |
The case continues. | The case continues. |