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| April Jones trial: Mark Bridger 'did not think to ring 999' | April Jones trial: Mark Bridger 'did not think to ring 999' |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| A man accused of abducting and murdering five-year-old April Jones said it never occurred to him to ring 999 for help. | |
| Mold Crown Court has heard that Mark Bridger told officers he accidentally knocked her over and could not remember what he had done with her body. | Mold Crown Court has heard that Mark Bridger told officers he accidentally knocked her over and could not remember what he had done with her body. |
| The defendant, 47, of Ceinws, Powys, denies abducting and murdering April, who went missing near her Machynlleth home on 1 October 2012. | The defendant, 47, of Ceinws, Powys, denies abducting and murdering April, who went missing near her Machynlleth home on 1 October 2012. |
| She has never been found. | She has never been found. |
| The prosecution claims the defendant murdered April, who suffered from mild cerebral palsy, in a sexually motivated attack. | The prosecution claims the defendant murdered April, who suffered from mild cerebral palsy, in a sexually motivated attack. |
| But Mr Bridger told police during interviews he accidentally hit her with his Land Rover Discovery and does not know how he disposed of her body because he was suffering memory loss caused by alcohol and panic. | But Mr Bridger told police during interviews he accidentally hit her with his Land Rover Discovery and does not know how he disposed of her body because he was suffering memory loss caused by alcohol and panic. |
| Earlier this week, the jury was told by a forensics scientist who examined the vehicle that there was no evidence of any type of collision with April. | Earlier this week, the jury was told by a forensics scientist who examined the vehicle that there was no evidence of any type of collision with April. |
| On Friday morning, the court heard more of the police interviews conducted on 3 October, two days after April disappeared. | On Friday morning, the court heard more of the police interviews conducted on 3 October, two days after April disappeared. |
| When Mr Bridger was asked to explain his movements the night she went missing, he said: "I drank through the night." | When Mr Bridger was asked to explain his movements the night she went missing, he said: "I drank through the night." |
| "To be honest I don't know whether I slept or whether I just blanked everything out... I remember hugging my dog and talking to her about what happened... I know that sounds stupid..." he told police. | |
| In the interviews he said he did not know why he had not called the emergency services after he claimed his car hit her. | In the interviews he said he did not know why he had not called the emergency services after he claimed his car hit her. |
| "My intention was to get her to the hospital... What hospital do I take her to?.. What do I do?.. For some reason I never thought of dialling 999... I just didn't think..." | "My intention was to get her to the hospital... What hospital do I take her to?.. What do I do?.. For some reason I never thought of dialling 999... I just didn't think..." |
| 'Happy times' | 'Happy times' |
| Asked whether there were any places personal to him that he might have laid April, he said: "I never thought or had thoughts about ever having to lay a body to rest," adding that the only body he might ever have to lay to rest "was my dog". | Asked whether there were any places personal to him that he might have laid April, he said: "I never thought or had thoughts about ever having to lay a body to rest," adding that the only body he might ever have to lay to rest "was my dog". |
| He described a location he had been with his children but said: "I can't see me doing that because it was somewhere that relates to my children so why would I put another child there?... They were the happy times I had with my children..." | |
| Later in interview he said: "I want Paul and Coral to have their daughter". | Later in interview he said: "I want Paul and Coral to have their daughter". |
| He then said: "I didn't abduct her, I did not abduct her. This was a stupid accident." | He then said: "I didn't abduct her, I did not abduct her. This was a stupid accident." |
| Facebook friends | |
| Later in interview, Mr Bridger was asked how he knew the couple who he was Facebook friends with. | |
| He said he remembered April's mother Coral from the darts team and described her as a bit of a "scallywag" with the lads but great fun. | |
| He said he used to help fix their cars. | |
| He said in the interview he remembered Mr and Mrs Jones's first child, but "I didn't know anything about April". | |
| Mr Bridger wiped his nose with a tissue as the evidence was heard about how he knew April's parents. | |
| 'Army greens' | |
| Asked in the interview what he remembered about April's clothes, he said: "The one thing I noticed, or I haven't seen... was any blood... " | |
| Continuing in interview, he said: "I put my hand or my fingers here [points to his chest]... because it was a confined space I couldn't hear her breathing I couldn't feel a pulse... I tried to get a pulse... " | |
| Asked later if he changed his clothes overnight, he said: "I woke up in the same clothes. | |
| "I had taken my boots off and my socks off because they were wet because I had walked and walked and walked..." | |
| He told the interviewer he had been wearing "army greens", and boots, and possibly a vest when the incident occurred. | |
| He told police that he had brought his car in from abroad and originally it had foreign plates which were changed. It was a three-door vehicle. | |
| He went on to describe a "horrendous clonking and clanking" on the night April disappeared. | |
| He said the car was "making a lot of noises" when he drove to the parents' evening. | |
| 'Happy for daughter' | |
| He said he had previously done a lot of mechanical work himself and did all the usual checks. | |
| Asked when he last cleaned the vehicle he said "about three or four months ago" and said he had used baby wipes to clean grease from his hands and maybe the seatbelt. | |
| He said his ex-partner's two children and his own two children had been in the car. | |
| He was asked in interview whether he was drunk at the parents' evening. | |
| He said: "I had had enough... I would've said that... When I'm drunk I talk a lot, when I'm nervous I talk a lot... " | |
| Asked how he felt after the parents' evening he said: "I was happy for my daughter." | |
| Mr Bridger told police he left the parents' evening and had hoped to see his ex-partner but there had been a "lot of animosity" between him and her mother. | |
| He said: "The first thing I did was open a can of cider, have a swig of vodka... calm my nerves." | |
| "I got to the point where I'd had too much to drink... I'd run out," he added. | |
| Asked how he felt at that time, he said "upset" and worried after his housing benefits had been cut earlier in the day. | |
| He said he would "possibly have been over the limit" at that stage. | |
| Mr Bridger described how he prepared to drive off and saw one girl, then another youngster had "come in front of the car between me and the van". | |
| He continued: "I could see the pushbike... there was no thud, there was no knock and the vehicle then rose up." | |
| As well as abduction and murder, he also denies intending to pervert the course of justice. | As well as abduction and murder, he also denies intending to pervert the course of justice. |
| The case continues. | The case continues. |