April Jones accused Mark Bridger tells court of moment he ran over 'little person'

 
Trial opens: Mark Bridger and April Jones
Paul Cheston23 May 2013
WEST END FINAL

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A man accused of murdering five-year-old April Jones today told a court of the moment he drove off and ran over something before seeing 'a little person' under his car.

Mark Bridger was giving evidence in his defence today at Mold crown court in Wales with April’s parents, Paul and Coral, sitting in the public gallery.

He said: "I started the car up, put lights on, at that split second I went to put it in gear, my car had been playing up for a couple of days, I struggled to get it into gear.

"As I went to move off, didn't go more than half a wheel turn, one of the girls came from behind the car, inbetween the BT van and my car.

"It was the little blonde haired girl, I know to be April, that came in front of me.

"I turned to look to my right to see where the dark haired girl was and she was doing loops on her bike.

"As I looked forward again the other girl had gone, my wheels had already turned as I started to pull away there was a little pink bike on the floor.

April's mother Coral left the public gallery as Bridger got to the point where he told the jury he accidentally run over the girl in his car.

The prosecution claims he murdered April in a sexually motivated attack after abducting her as she played near her home on the Bryn-Y-Gog estate in Machynlleth.

However Bridger says he knocked her over in his Land Rover and cannot remember what he did with her body because he was drunk and panicked.

Bridger, 47, went on: "There was this bike either leaned up or dropped against the floor.

"As I went to pull away the car rose up on one side, my driver's side.

"I didn't travel more than inches and it rose up, checked the hand brake was off. Went to do that two times and realised there was a problem.

"I got out of my vehicle. I went around to the front of my car, the front is very high, I don't know whether I knelt down or bent down to have a look, that's when I saw."

Fighting back tears, Bridger continued: "That's when I saw a little person, a child pushed up against the front wheel, my drivers wheel, on the car.

"I don't know what I grabbed, an arm or leg, as I pulled her out she was limp.

"So I picked her up and held her head. I scooped her up and her arms and legs were floppy.

"I don't remember talking to her but from all the training as a first aider your first response is to talk or pinch to get a response."

Bridger said he put the girl on his passenger seat.

"I remember checking for her breath, I remember checking for a pulse, I remember checking her eyes. I remember giving her mouth to mouth."

Bridger continued: "I had torches in the car. I checked her eyes and they were not with us. There was no reaction, I then knew I needed to get help so I jumped in the car and left the area."

He also told the court that bones found in his fireplace were from a chicken supper cooked for his children - and were not those of April.

Bridger said: “I was going to do a barbecue but I decided to cook a chicken in a pan on the log fire. We did this a lot — the kids loved it.

“We cooked it and ate it and anything leftover would get put into the fire.”

Bridger also denies intending to pervert the course of justice by disposing of, concealing or destroying April’s body.

The trial continues.

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