GUILTY UK - Lucy McHugh, 13, murdered,, Southampton, 25 July 2018

[Tortoise]

2:39pm

The court rises as the judge the Honourable Mrs Justice May DBE comes into court. Justice May will now summarise the evidence with the jury.

2:40pm

She starts by reminding the jury that Lucy's body was found at Southampton Sports Centre on July 26 - in a wooded area near to Alpine Ski Slopes.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Sark06]

The hoodie fibres are the strongest thing they have imo. Defence could argue that Lucy had worn the hoodie previously but that would not explain fibres on her body that day. SN is denying the hoodie belongs to him ( far as I can make out from the limited testimony we have heard ) so it is harder for him/defence to explain how the fibres got inside his jacket.

Maybe Lucy wore the top under the Jacket at some point? Maybe she had bought these clothes with her to return to SN. the DNA evidence is really baffling me, I suppose it is because it is not a stranger attack so there is DNA present because of the nature of their knowing each other - I hope that this doesn't prevent justice from being done

 

[Tortoise]

2:44pm

The court now hears about the evidence given by a schoolfriend of Lucy's, who previously told the court that Lucy had told her that Nicholson had taken her virginity.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Tortoise]

2:50pm

Justice May is now going over the evidence of Lucy's mother's partner Richard Elmes.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Alyce]

I don't remember hearing about any DNA found on her body.

I wonder if there is evidence, but it was given during that section of testimony re Lucy's injuries when the reporter declined to report, because he felt it was too graphic

 

[Tortoise]

2:56pm

Justice May now recaps the evidence of Lucy's grandmother, Dawn White, and a friend of Nicholson's Rowan Crease. She then moves on to the evidence of Nicholson and the cross-examination.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Alyce]

Just found it - evidence from June 27

The court is told about data showing a delivery of trainers to Nicholson's friend's address on July 25. The delivery is signed for.

Just adding to the above



The prosecution now calls a woman who delivered a parcel to Nicholson's friend's house on Dunkirk Road on the day Lucy disappeared (July 25).
She described Nicholson's friend as a man in his 60's and that she believed he was "in poor health".

She tells the court that on July 25 she delivered a parcel to the address and a young man, who she believed to be in his mid-20s, answered the door and signed for the parcel.
She tells the jury she did not know the man and had never seen him before.

Mr Newton-Price asks the witness about the timeslot for delivery. He asks if the slot was between 9am and 11am. She says "yes".




So they must be able to place him at the friend's house at an exact time between 9 amd 11am

 

[Kasmeer]

How would you all feel if he's found not guilty?

I'm with Alyce and Elainera; unless there's compelling evidence that we haven't heard, I think "not guilty" would actually be the correct decision here, as it hasn't been proven to a high enough standard. He probably did it, but it's entirely possible to construct an alternative scenario where RE (or A.N.Other with access to the house) did it, and not be able to rule that scenario out based on the published evidence. The prosecution case relies a lot on the Tanners Brook clothes, which don't fully add up, in fact they make about as much sense if planted by someone other than SN... it's a shame, as I think he probably is guilty, but the evidence doesn't stack up beyond reasonable doubt for me.

Glad I'm not on the jury; I suspect we won't get a fast verdict on this one - if we do, and it's "guilty", he has a case for appeal as they weren't thinking enough about the evidence IMO. Guilty after a long discussion, fair enough, but if it's one of those 2-hour turnarounds we sometimes get in overwhelmingly clear cases, that'll be disappointing.

 

[Alyce]

I wish we could hear exactly what the Judge is saying in her recap

 

[Tortoise]

I'm a bit unclear about whether the rape charges are solely based upon Lucy using the word rape or if it could also refer to her being too young to consent.

From the reporting at least I'm not at all sure sexual activity has been proved.

 

[Tortoise]

3:07pm

The court near [now] rehears the evidence by two witnesses who believed they saw Lucy on July 25.

3:13pm

Justice May now talks about the cloud and GPS data from Nicholson's phone.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Tortoise]

3:25pm

Justice May will not take a break. The trial will resume in around 10 minutes.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

I presume that should read 'now' not 'not'.

 

[Sark06]

This is such a sad case, this poor girl who is being painted as an attention seeking liar who was in the way and annoying everyone, what a shame she didn't have someone who gave her the attention she craved. Who knows who took her life? I know that most of the adults in her life made her short time on earth a lot less than it should've been. I think the mother should've been questioned.

 

[Tortoise]

3:37pm

Justice May returns. She restarts with the events on the afternoon on July 25 - when Nicholson had a bonfire.

3:50pm

The court now rehears about the forensic evidence in the investigation - including the DNA and clothing fibre evidence.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Tortoise]

4:02pm

Justice May is now going back over the evidence of the girl who claims she had sex with Nicholson when she was 14 in a wooded area of Southampton Sports Centre.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Tortoise]

4:15pm

Justice May has now finished giving her summary of the evidence for today. She will resume tomorrow when the court resumes at 10am. She will then go through with the jury the process on how a jury comes to a decision.

LIVE: Lucy McHugh murder trial: Defence to make closing speech today

 

[Alyce]

Thanks Tortoise for all the updates, am trying to catch up again....
So if Judge finishes tomorrow AM, then Jury go out midday-ish, that only leaves 1.5 days this week for deliberations, as I think court does not sit on Friday.
I don’t see that being long enough for a thorough debate of this evidence, so possibly running into next week ?

 

[Tortoise]

Thanks Tortoise for all the updates, am trying to catch up again....
So if Judge finishes tomorrow AM, then Jury go out midday-ish, that only leaves 1.5 days this week for deliberations, as I think court does not sit on Friday.
I don’t see that being long enough for a thorough debate of this evidence, so possibly running into next week ?

It'll be very interesting to see what the jury does, with all the charges not just the murder charge.

Maybe it's the style of the reporting and I shouldn't read too much into it but I got the feeling the defence barrister had the material to have been a bit more convincing. I feel there's a possibility he thinks SN is guilty and toned it down, just did what he had to.

 

[Elainera]

So they must be able to place him at the friend's house at an exact time between 9 amd 11am

I wonder why the elderly friend was not a witness. Wouldn't he be able to confirm or deny that SN was at his house the whole time during the timeframe in question? And wouldn't he also be able to describe the state of mind SN was in? Maybe he is too ill?

 

[LittleMystery]

This is such a sad case, this poor girl who is being painted as an attention seeking liar who was in the way and annoying everyone, what a shame she didn't have someone who gave her the attention she craved. Who knows who took her life? I know that most of the adults in her life made her short time on earth a lot less than it should've been. I think the mother should've been questioned.

I share your sentiments.

Finding it uncomfortable reading that it is coming down to Lucy being portrayed as an attention seeking liar and in some way responsible.

Even if she was telling lies and seeking attention - there was a reason for it and I believe she was failed by people around her long before she was murdered.