April accused
‘made up lies to
hide sex crimes’

The former abattoir worker accused of murdering schoolgirl April Jones made up a “story” that he had killed her in a car accident to “explain away” his role in the killing, a court has heard.
Mark Bridger looked at images of child pornography in the hours before he allegedly snatched April Jones, a court heard.Mark Bridger looked at images of child pornography in the hours before he allegedly snatched April Jones, a court heard.
Mark Bridger looked at images of child pornography in the hours before he allegedly snatched April Jones, a court heard.

Mark Bridger, 47, of Ceinws, denies the sexually motivated murder of the five-year-old after he abducted her from outside her home in Machynlleth, mid-Wales, on October 1, last year and denies disposing of her body to conceal evidence. The body of April, who had cerebral palsy, has never been found. He claims he killed her by accident and then blacked out and cannot remember what he did with the body.

On the second day of the prosecution, Elwen Evans QC took the jury through the “lies” Bridger told when he arrested on October 2.

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Bridger told police: “It was an accident. I crushed her with the car. I don’t know where she is. As I was going to drive away two girls on bikes came across me.

“I then got out and saw a little girl lying under my car.

“I picked her up and put her in my car, which is left-hand drive, and put her on the front seat.”

Miss Evans said Bridger carried on telling police his story as he was being driven away.

He said: “I had been looking for her all night and did it on foot because my car is in the garage.

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“I didn’t abduct her. I did my best to revive her. I panicked.”

He continued: “I just wish I knew what I had done with her, where I have put her. I need to say sorry to her family. I can’t believe I didn’t just call an ambulance or the police.”

Miss Evans said that when police went into Bridger’s home, half an hour before he was arrested, they found that the house was uncomfortably hot and smelled of detergent, cleaning products, air freshener and washed clothes.

Pointing to the car photographs, Miss Evans said: “There is no evidence of a road collision, no evidence of blood here, torn fabric, or indication April Jones had been hit or run over.

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“Nothing on the bodywork, the side, the wheels, to suggest impact with a body or a bicycle.”

Inside Bridger’s house, however, were bloodstains and fragments of bone. There was a “one in a billion” match to April’s DNA profile in blood found near the wood- burning stove, on the carpet and on the sofa by forensic experts.

Three witnesses saw Bridger carrying a black bin bag in a field near his home the morning after April’s disappearance, but no trace of April was found.

Bridger later claimed he had to stop to “go for a wee” but Miss Evans said Bridger made up this story to “explain away a potentially suspicious sighting”.

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Bridger also tried to claim that any traces of April’s DNA on him were because he was holding her body as he relieved himself. Traces of April’s DNA were found “inside the front crotch area” of Bridger’s tracksuit bottoms.

Earlier the jury was taken through more images of local young girls found on Bridger’s Acer laptop and told of some obscene content.

On the afternoon before April disappeared, the defendant viewed a pornographic cartoon of a young girl gagged and restrained as she was being raped, and he made internet searches about crimes involving young girls.

Miss Evans said Bridger had “a clear interest” in child pornography and child murders. There were images on the laptop of April and her half-sisters as well as those of murdered young girls including Soham victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

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The jury was also shown a series of text messages sent and received by the defendant on that day.

Bridger had also exchanged text messages on that day with his ex-girlfriend Vicky Fenner about their break-up before going into the village to pick up his benefits before returning home to view indecent images on his laptop.

He also trawled Facebook, looking at pictures of local young girls and sending messages asking women out.

At 5.20pm Bridger went to his daughter’s school for a parents’ evening and after leaving approached a couple of girls aged under 10 and asked one of them to come for a sleepover with his daughter. A witness later saw Bridger pull up next to garages where April was playing nearby.

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Ten minutes later the Land Rover Discovery was seen by another witness driving from the scene and then out of the village.

The jury was told that as frantic searches for April began the defendant carried out an extensive clean-up to try to get rid of any evidence.

During a series of police interviews over four days, Bridger repeated his story that he ran over April in his car and drove around the town with her body after trying to revive her.

The next day he woke up and found April missing.

Miss Evans told the court: “He said it was a pure stupid accident.”

Bridger denied he had a “sexual interest” in children and said he was just interested in stories about serial killers.

Today the jury will visit the alleged crime scenes.