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April Jones trial: Prosecution of Mark Bridger due to finish April Jones trial: Bone fragments from 'human skull'
(about 4 hours later)
The prosecution case against the man accused of murdering five-year-old April Jones is expected to conclude later. Bone fragments found in the fireplace of a man accused of killing five-year-old April Jones belonged to a human skull, a jury was told.
A bone analysis specialist compared one burnt fragment to that of a young child, Mold Crown Court heard.
Mark Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, Powys, denies abducting and murdering April, who went missing near her Machynlleth home on 1 October 2012.Mark Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, Powys, denies abducting and murdering April, who went missing near her Machynlleth home on 1 October 2012.
Mold Crown Court has heard Mr Bridger claimed to have accidentally knocked her over with his Land Rover. He claims he accidentally ran her over in his Land Rover.
His defence is due to begin on Wednesday. The court has been told he did not know how he disposed of her body because he was suffering memory loss caused by alcohol and panic.
The court has been told Mr Bridger ran April over but did not know how he disposed of her body because he was suffering memory loss caused by alcohol and panic. The prosecution claims he murdered April after abducting her while she was playing near her home on the Bryn-Y-Gog estate.
On Monday, the jury heard that he had told police that April had never been to his cottage. On Tuesday, forensic anthropologist Dr Julie Roberts explained that her role was to examine material recovered from the fireplace in the living room at Mr Bridger's home.
He said: "In the six hours that I lost between leaving Machynlleth... I don't believe I took her to the house because I cannot ever remember seeing her in the car." She said the five fragments recovered from the fire were subjected to a range of tests but not all fragments underwent every test partly because they were very small.
The officer said: "She's never been into your house?" Mr Bridger: "Never." She said she was asked to consider three questions:
'Scared of drowning' The fragments were all burnt bone, she concluded, and "four of the fragments can be assigned to the cranium and one we can't say one way or the other".
The jury has previously been told that April's blood was found at several locations in his home. Giving evidence about fragment A, Dr Roberts said there were "several specific features" which led her to believe it was from a human skull.
The court also heard written evidence from a detention officer in which Mr Bridger said he would not have disposed of April's body in water because he was "scared of drowning". She said skull characteristics included a "double-layered structure", the fragment's thickness and the appearance of spongy bone. There were features unique to a human skull, she said.
The court was told the defendant spoke about the possibility of also burning April but had ruled it out. The fragment was compared to an archaeological specimen of a skull belonging to a child aged about four to eight years old.
Although he could not remember what he did with April, he told police: "I wouldn't have put her in a bin because that's disgusting." Dr Roberts said: "I was confident that this was a piece of human cranial bone."
Her disappearance sparked the biggest police search in UK history. She has never been found. Fragment A was selected for DNA analysis but it was not possible to obtain a DNA profile from the sample because it was so badly burned, she said.
As well as abduction and murder, Mr Bridger also denies intending to pervert the course of justice. The court has previously heard that blood found in several locations around the defendant's house matched April's DNA.
The prosecution case is expected to conclude later with Mr Bridger's defence due to start on Wednesday.
April's disappearance sparked the biggest police search in UK history. She has never been found.
As well as abduction and murder, he also denies intending to pervert the course of justice.
The case continues.The case continues.