Deceased/Not Found UK - April Jones, 5, Machynlleth, Wales, 1 Oct 2012 #7 *M. Bridger guilty*

[Alyce]

From what I am reading on twitter and the live blogs, it seems that AJ and her friend were already starting to walk home, the friend being in front and calling out to AJ to come on.
AJ then gets into the car, trying to get in via the back doors but isnt able to so eventually climbs in via the drivers side.

What I dont understand is how the friend ended up with AJs bike....was she pushing both bikes home ? or did she go back and pick up the bike when AJ got into the car ?

 

[Neurotripsy]

@stevenmorris20:

Back in court on #markbridger trial. April's friend being examined by defendant's barrister Brendan Kelly. Greets him with cheery Hi!

April's friend is being asked what they did earlier on evening April vanished. They were playing at April's home, she says. #markbridger

April Jones' friend tells court her mum showed her pics of Land Rovers before she was formally interviewed by police. #apriljones

Barrister asks April's friend: did you have a good view of the Land Rover. Replies: yes I did. #apriljones

April's friend giggles as she is shown a pic of a Land Rover she drew. Says: I'm just not good at Land Rovers. #markbridger

Under cross examination April's friend says she only had a "bit" of a view of the Land Rover. #markbridger #apriljones

April's friend expresses surprise that her bike looks dirty in a photo shown to the court. She's told the "scientists" are to blame.


@ChrisMRiches:

#apriljones the girl witness admits she was unclear about what happened, about the Land Rover, the night before her police interview.


@c4marcus:

Defence counsel asks friend: "Did you have a good view of the Land Rover when you saw it?" Her reply: "Erm, yes I did." #AprilJones

"So could you see it clearly?" "Not that clearly." "But could you see how many doors it had and things like that?" "Yes." #AprilJones

Friend asked when she drew Land Rover was she drawing what her mum had shown her or what she had seen? "I was drawing what I had seen."

 

[Clio]

"April Jones' friend tells court her mum showed her pics of Land Rovers before she was formally interviewed by police".

Hmm. Why would her mother have done that? Did she already have a suspicion that it was MB's vehicle?

Indeed, and the Defence are probably going to claim that the girl was influenced by having seen the photos.

Hywel Trewyn ‏@HywelTrewyn 2h
"April tried to open the Land Rover's back doors but they didn't work."

Emily Morgan ‏@emilymorganitv 1h
April's friend'she got in through the driver's way. The two back doors were locked or broken so she had to get in through the driver's side'

Marcus Edwards ‏@c4marcus 2h
The friend is describing #AprilJones getting into Land Rover. Says she tried back doors but ended up getting in "through the driver's way".

IIRC MB's LR is a two door vehicle.

 

[Neurotripsy]

@stevenmorris20:

April and friend were on bikes. Friend: I told her let's go home, it's getting dark. I saw her by where the Land Rover was. #apriljones


@JerryLawton:

#apriljones pal said she set off for home and rode on ahead of her then looked back to see where she was


@PaulyBentley:

‘I was riding in front and I said: “Let’s go home because it’s getting dark.” I went to go check and she was by the Land Rover.' #April

‘I knew they were talking because I could see their mouths moving but I couldn’t hear what they were saying,' says #AprilJones's friend

‘I could see the colour of his hair, I could. But not his eyes,' says #AprilJones best friend, describing when she was taken


@stevenmorris20:

April's friend tells court she "guessed" when she told police the man she saw with April had green or blue eyes. #apriljones

#markbridger barrister asks April's friend if she had guessed about anything else. She replies firmly: No.


@c4marcus:

Friend is being asked by the defence QC if she is sure about her recollection of #AprilJones getting into the Land Rover. She says she is.

Defence QC asking friend a series of questions about the exact position of the Land Rover and the door #AprilJones allegedly used to get in.

Defence QC asks friend of #AprilJones if she saw the man bending down. "No," she replies.

 

[Fluttershy]

Thanks for the updates Neurotripsy, very kind of you.

 

[veggiefan]

Indeed, and the Defence are probably going to claim that the girl was influenced by having seen the photos.

Hywel Trewyn ‏@HywelTrewyn 2h
"April tried to open the Land Rover's back doors but they didn't work."

Emily Morgan ‏@emilymorganitv 1h
April's friend'she got in through the driver's way. The two back doors were locked or broken so she had to get in through the driver's side'

Marcus Edwards ‏@c4marcus 2h
The friend is describing #AprilJones getting into Land Rover. Says she tried back doors but ended up getting in "through the driver's way".

IIRC MB's LR is a two door vehicle.

Strictly speaking it is 3-door (1 on each side plus one tailgate door). I'm not sure what to make of the description of "two back doors". April's friend is very young to be expected to know details of car doors, but on the other hand she seems to have known that the vehicle was a Land Rover, and she drew a picture of a 4-door Land Rover for the police. Very strange.

 

[Neurotripsy]

@JerryLawton:

#apriljones pal drew Bridger's Land Rover with four doors but it only has two


@c4marcus:

Defence QC asks friend about green jacket she'd told police the man was "definitely" wearing. She says does not know "for sure" it was green

But the friend points out to the defence QC: "I said 'I think' after… I said I definitely think it was green." #AprilJones

Friend asked by defence QC if she was sure she saw #AprilJones talking to the man. "Yes, I’m sure I saw April talking to the man."

Defence QC: "Are you sure you weren’t too far away to see any of that…? And because you had ridden on you didn’t see April on the ground?"


@stevenmorris20:

#markbridger defence suggests to April's friend that April was carried into car. Friend: she got in. #apriljones


@c4marcus:

Friend asks what defence QC means by "on the floor". He says "off her bike and lying on the floor, very near to where the Land Rover was."

The friend replies: "She was talking, but she was standing up when she was talking to the man." #AprilJones

Defence QC: When you say you saw her get into the car through the driver’s door. I have to say you are wrong about that. Do you understand?

Defence QC: "And if you saw her getting into the car, you saw her being carried into the car by the man who put her on the front seat…"

Friend replies: "She was in the back. That’s what I saw. She got into the driver’s seat and she climbed over to the back seat…" #AprilJones

The friend continued: "...but the man didn’t carry her into the front seat." #AprilJones

Further questioning about which side of the Land Rover the friend apparently saw #AprilJones getting into. We're on another break now.



[Come on, you'd think a seven-year-old girl would remember someone "crushing" her best friend with a Land Rover! :facepalm:]

 

[Clio]

Strictly speaking it is 3-door (1 on each side plus one tailgate door). I'm not sure what to make of the description of "two back doors". April's friend is very young to be expected to know details of car doors, but on the other hand she seems to have known that the vehicle was a Land Rover, and she drew a picture of a 4-door Land Rover for the police. Very strange.

I wouldn't have been too worried about her doing a drawing of a 4-door vehicle. I am more perturbed about her explicit description of how April tried to open the back doors but couldn't because they were locked or broken. I suspect that she only became sure that it was a Land Rover after having been shown the photos. Hmm.....

 

[Cherwell]

Strictly speaking it is 3-door (1 on each side plus one tailgate door). I'm not sure what to make of the description of "two back doors". April's friend is very young to be expected to know details of car doors, but on the other hand she seems to have known that the vehicle was a Land Rover, and she drew a picture of a 4-door Land Rover for the police. Very strange.

If she's used to 4-door cars, she might just have assumed there were four passenger doors*, and that would explain why the back doors "didn't work".

I also think they need to establish which side is meant by the "driver's side". This could be assumed to be what is normally the driver's side. (ETA well, I'm sure they must have established it with the witness but it isn't clear to me at the moment.)

*That might also apply to April ... she might have expected there to be back doors, and searched for the handles.

 

[Neurotripsy]

@c4marcus:

That's the cross-examination finished. Elwen Evans QC for the prosecution is now re-examining the friend of #AprilJones.

The young witness is giving evidence over a video link from another location. She can only see the judge and the prosecution/defence counsel

The prosecution QC asked the friend about the direction from which she'd seen the Land Rover come onto the estate. #AprilJones


@PaulyBentley:

#AprilJones’s friend hugs her teddy, plays with her hair and rests her head in her hands while she's cross-examined. Bridger watches quietly

‘Thank you very much, you’ve helped us a great deal,’ judge tells #AprilJones's friend, as questions finish and the screen is turned off


@c4marcus:

The judge asks if she's going to school tmrw. She says yes. "Would you prefer to go to school tomorrow?" She smiles. "I'm sure you would!"


@PaulyBentley:

#AprilJones's best friend's mother is now giving evidence

 

[ann-other]

"She was in the back seat, she got into the driver's side and she climbed over to the back seat. The man didn't carry her into the front seat."

She then added: "The driver's side didn't have a driving wheel."

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/live-updates-april-jones-murder-3414952

 

[Rutland Girl]

I understand that we need to know just what happened, but really do the defence need to scoop this low - Defence QC: When you say you saw her get into the car through the driver’s door. I have to say you are wrong about that. Do you understand?
This is pure bullying! and she says again that AJ got in the car and he then calls her a liar in court - At the end of the day AJ was taken from her home area and her dna was found at the defendants home and he's admitted that he probably killed her. I'm all for a fair trial etc - but this is getting desperate and nasty.

 

[Neurotripsy]

@JerryLawton:

Mum of #apriljones pal says her daughter said: "April's got into someone's van. She was happy, she was smiling, she just got in"

#apriljones pal: "I told her not to (get in the van) but she said it was fine."


@PaulyBentley:

'[Coral] was gasping for breath. She ran in the house, ran back out of the house. She just collapsed on the floor,' says #April's pal's mum

#AprilJones's brother's statement will now be played to the court via video link


@stevenmorris20:

#apriljones #markbridger trial has heard from the mum of April's best friend. She told how Coral "flopped to her knees" when she heard.

video interview with #apriljones's older brother now being played to jury. He was 10 when she vanished.

April's brother was told to go and fetch his sister. "She wasn't there," he said. April's friend told him he had "got in a car with someone"

April's brother went home on his sister's bike, he said. "I told mum April had got in a car, been kidnapped or something." #apriljones

 

[Clio]

From what I am reading on twitter and the live blogs, it seems that AJ and her friend were already starting to walk home, the friend being in front and calling out to AJ to come on.
AJ then gets into the car, trying to get in via the back doors but isnt able to so eventually climbs in via the drivers side.

What I dont understand is how the friend ended up with AJs bike....was she pushing both bikes home ? or did she go back and pick up the bike when AJ got into the car ?

Can't find where I read it but I have read somewhere today that they had swapped bikes therefore the child witness was riding April's bike. That's how she was able to give April's bike to her brother. It could also explain why forensics were done on the child witness's bike.

Darren Little ‏@DarrenLittleSky 1h
April's friend is excited when she sees a picture of her bike, she's upset that it's "dirty" told it's what the scientists did

ETA - Found it

Jerry Lawton ‏@JerryLawton 1h
#apriljones pal said pair of them took another pal home, then swapped bikes before she told April they should go home coz it's getting dark

 

[Alyce]

Thanks Clio - and that would explain why the friend's bike was checked so thoroughly as well

 

[Neurotripsy]

@PaulyBentley:

Bridger took a deep breath as he heard #AprilJones’s brother describe how he told his mother: ‘April’s been kidnapped.’

Court finished for the day and will resume in the morning

 

[ann-other]

Is it just me that is confused here? Did CJ first hear that April had gone from April's friend whilst in her mothers house, or from her son?

 

[Cherwell]

"She was in the back seat, she got into the driver's side and she climbed over to the back seat. The man didn't carry her into the front seat."

She then added: "The driver's side didn't have a driving wheel."

Thanks, that's cleared that up.

 

[Neurotripsy]

Is it just me that is confused here? Did CJ first hear that April had gone from April's friend whilst in her mothers house, or from her son?

As far as I can gather: CJ sent her son to bring April home. April's friend told CJ's son that April had been taken, and the son was the first one who told CJ as soon as he headed home.

I'd assume April's friend then told her own mother, who then went to CJ's house to assist with the 999 call?

 

[ann-other]

As far as I can gather: CJ sent her son to bring April home. April's friend told CJ's son that April had been taken, and the son was the first one who told CJ as soon as he headed home.

I'd assume April's friend then told her own mother, who then went to CJ's house to assist with the 999 call?

Well that sounds logical but confusing documentation from http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/live-updates-april-jones-murder-3414952.

She described to the court how Coral had knocked on her door to ask if April was playing with her daughter.

Moments later she then told how her daughter came running up to her saying "April has got into someone's van, April has been taken."