I posted about Mark Bridger on 30th April 2013, at the start of his trial. At the time I quoted:
After the first day of the trial, the judge reminded the jury to decide
the case fairly and squarely on the evidence you hear..... that
shouldn't be too difficult then.....
After reading the latest report on the trial:
April Jones: Bridger Denies Sexual Assault
Mike McCarthy, at Mold Crown Court
The jury in the trial of Mark Bridger has been hearing transcripts of
interviews he had with police after he was arrested for April's murder. When asked whether he had acted with a sexual motive, Bridger said that "this was not the case at all". When asked directly whether he had sexually assaulted the five-year-old, he replied: "I most certainly did not."
The former abattoir worker says he accidentally killed the youngster
when he ran her over and accepts that he must have got rid of her body
but cannot remember how due to the fact he was drunk and panicking.
When discussing possible methods of disposing of April's body,
Bridger said that he would not have put her body in water because he was
"scared of drowning". The court was read a statement from detention officer Stephen Carr
who said that Bridger, who was once a firefighter for the London Fire
Brigade, told him he would have "laid her to rest" for the body to be
found and that he may have covered it with a tarpaulin sheet.
Mr Carr added: "He went on to say he could have burnt the body but
with his firefighter training he informed me that burning flesh smells
like pork. "He said the flesh would smell and his clothing would smell and that he would remember having set a fire."
The jury heard Bridger told an interviewing police officer he did not
think he would have taken April out of his car as someone would have
seen him. Bridger told police: "They would have lynched me. They would have got hold of me." But he told the police if he had been seen then it would have "proved
then what I want to prove to you. That I crushed her and I gave her as
much medical attention as I could." He is also alleged to have told police: "She is a human being. I wouldn't have put her in a bin. That's disgusting."
The public gallery at Mold Crown Court was cleared as indecent images
taken from 47-year-old Bridger's computer were shown to the jury. The court heard that some of the images depicted children being sexually abused or tortured by adults or other children.
When asked by detectives about them, Bridger said he had "stumbled across them". Asked why he had then saved them, he said he wanted to complain about
the images to get them removed from the internet, insisting he wrote to
the websites concerned. After he was shown an image of a topless girl aged between about
eight and 10 years, the court heard Bridger claimed there was "nothing
sexual" in the picture, adding he kept it in case his daughter asked him
about her development.
Questioned about an internet search for "naked 5yr old girls" Bridger
claimed not to remember typing any such term, though he said he did
remember searching for "infant model" pictures. Bridger also insisted he downloaded indecent images of young children
only for "research", adding: "I don't find child pornography a turn
on."
At one point the interviewing officer said: "You have researched
various murders of young girls. The fact that I am talking to you about
April... is that co-incidence?" Police say Bridger became "upset" when during the interview he was shown images of April found on his laptop. April disappeared while playing near her home in Machynlleth on October 1, 2012, and has never been found.
Bridger, 47, from Ceinws, Powys, denies abduction and murder, as well as perverting the course of justice.
The trial continues..... really ? ... honestly why are they bothering ?
I shouldn't think the jury are going to have a tough job.....
