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April Jones: jury hears testimony of seven-year-old friend April Jones: jury hears testimony of seven-year-old friend
(35 minutes later)
A young friend of April Jones has described seeing the missing schoolgirl get into a grey Land Rover. April Jones seemed "happy" when she allegedly got into a Land Rover driven by the man accused of her abduction and murder, her best friend told police.
A DVD of police interviews with the seven-year-old, who cannot be identified because of her age, was played to the jury in Mark Bridger's trial at Mold crown court, on Tuesday. The jury hearing the case against Mark Bridger has been shown a video of a police interview the seven-year-old friend gave the day after April vanished.
Five-year-old April vanished while playing with her friend near their homes in Machynlleth, Powys, mid Wales, on 1 October last year. Clutching a cuddly rabbit, the friend told police she and five-year-old April had been about to go home because it was getting dark.
The prosecution says April was abducted by Bridger, 47, who drove her off in his Land Rover Discovery and murdered her. She claimed she saw April talking to a man standing beside a "grey Land Rover". April then allegedly got into the front of the Land Rover, before clambering into the back, the girl, who cannot be named, said.
The film of the child witness's statement to police, recorded the day after April disappeared, was played to the jury as the girl watched on a videolink from Aberystwyth. The girl said: "She got in the car. The man didn't put her in the car. She wasn't crying. She was happy. She got in the back of the van. It just drove off."
She appeared on the video with a white teddy bear and a mug of juice, with an adult who was partially off screen sitting next to her. In the interview, the girl sat on a sofa playing with a brown rabbit cuddly toy. April went missing as she played near her home in the mid-Wales town of Machynlleth in October last year.
She told police they had been playing on the Bryn-Y-Gog estate the previous evening when she saw April "by a Land Rover van". Mold crown court in north Wales has been told by the prosecution that Bridger, 47, abducted April, murdered her and then concealed, disposed of or destroyed her body.
"I saw her by the person that was waiting by the van," the girl said. He denies the offences and claims he accidentally hit April in his car, drove off with her body and cannot remember what he did with it.
"She did not say she was going to go in it. I know they (April's parents) wouldn't let her go at that time. The friend told police the man she saw looked as if he was "waiting for someone". She expressed surprise that April had got into the vehicle as the little girl's parents had told her not to get into cars.
"The man didn't take her in the van – she got into the van, having a happy face she had and she wasn't upset." At one point the girl said she wasn't good at remembering – she had even forgotten her school PE kit that day.
During her evidence, court officials, including Judge Mr Justice Griffith-Williams, did not wear their wigs or robes. After the hour-long video was played to the jury, the seven-year-old girl began to give live evidence – via videolink – to the court.
There were breaks every 10 – 15 minutes to ensure she did not tire or lose concentration, the judge told the jury. She was shown the pictures of the spot where she had been playing with April and told the court one image showed a location "close to where it all happened".
Former abbatoir worker Bridger, of Ceinws, claims he accidentally killed April with his Land Rover and cannot remember what he did with the body. He denies abduction, murder and intending to pervert the course of justice by disposing of, concealing or destroying April's body. The girl wore a T-shirt with the word: "LoveE" on the front of it and had positioned her teddy bear – which she said was called Minty – on a desk in front of her.
The interviewing police officer then asked the girl to draw a picture of the Land Rover she saw and describe the vehicle in greater detail. The young witness said it had been parked near garages on the estate and next to a BT van.
The officer asked which van April had got into, and the girl said: "The grey Land Rover." She said: "I saw the man get out of the van.
"He was waiting outside the van for someone, I don't know who.
"I don't think it would be April he would be waiting for.
"I don't know why April would want to get into the van because her mum and dad told her not to get into vans like that.
"She wasn't crying, she was happy.
"She got into the back of the van and it just drove off the way it came and parked."
The trial continues.The trial continues.
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