Search underway for missing five-year-old girl 'seen getting into a van' after playing on her bike o

Agreed Cheltenham. The Dutch lodger was crying and confessing almost straight off.

What my Missus says worries me is that April has been passed on to a paedophile ring. This guy Bridger knows a lot more than he's saying.

WTF goes through a child abductors mind is beyond me. I still have hope that this little girl is alive but I also feel the police have cocked up and Bridger will walk free.

They wouldn't charge him with murder if they didn't have the evidence.  There would be no point; they could just charge him with abduction which would be enough to keep him inside for questioning.  You don't charge unnessarily, because you only get one bite at the cherry.

they have more than they are telling us.  It is interesting that they have charged him with conspicary to pervert the course of justice.  I was begining to think he was giving a "no comment" interview, but it seems he has been telling lies instead.  Not a rocket scientist, by the sounds of it.

would he have been released if he just said nothing and waited for the police to find a body?

Depends what other evidence they have.  they aren't going to be telling us at this stage, I would guess.  But there are two women saying they saw him take bin liners down to the river.

Would it be an impossibility the body may never be found?
it's beginning to feel like that to be honest.

I wondered if the godmother was involved somehow with Bridger?, seems she is on the TV too much for me, bit like Ian Huntley use to give interviews in Soham. Would not be surprised if she is a notch on his bedpost, by all accounts he's been through a few of the rank woman in the valley

Let's go back a bit - it must be significant that the abduction was after the parents evening, something must have triggered that off as it seems a strange time to strike when the girl could just as easily have been inside her house. Seems that the offender also wasn't that concerned with being seen, which could point to taking the girl as a frightener for the family, in particular the mother if involved romantically at some stage - perhaps there was contact between the two at the parents evening which led to the dreadful turn of events...which possibly didn't go as planned and ended tragically...

something along those lines seems most likely

Wonder if the sunday papers will be "digging him up"

"digging him up"

I don't think child murderer could be any worse than a parking fine he forgot to pay in 1995

"east end" phrase M8...........Y work it out...........no offence

Hopefully the press are finally going to start showing some restraint on these cases now.  Let the police and judiciary sort it out.

Ovalman

What my Missus says worries me is that April has been passed on to a paedophile ring. This guy Bridger knows a lot more than he's saying.

This will cause some controversy. David Icke love him or mock him has mentioned on many occasions disabled children being targeted by paedophile rings. Journalist Robert Green was handed a gagging order by Grampian Police as he was investigating the abuse of a girl with down syndrome Hollie Greig who received compensation, but the case was quashed by the Scottish courts.. He was convinced the paedophile ring went deep down and involved members in high places of the establishment.

It's the thought that scares me AG.

I really hope this little girl can be found alive but I despair

David Icke's a nut and the Holly Greig fairytale is the product of some unstable minds.

Oh God. Conspiracy nuts hovering.

Feel that the public have been kept unnecessarily in the dark throughout this case - press conferences been very cagey...just raises suspicion and increases speculation, poor villagers/searchers keep asking press what's happening...not good enough - perhaps police/suspect interviews will one day be live on your mobiles...

my missus once gave the police a statement in a murder inquiry and all they said to her was that they were very close to capturing the person - it transpired that they had the person but were just using her statement to give them more evidence

This could be the case here ie if the police give out too much then people may hold back vital evidence

Problem is if you're out there searching for her you'd like to be fully aware of the relevant facts - not going up a blind alley wasting valuable time.

Public have been told no more than necessary - which is the way it should be.

again i repeat the biggst **** up here was the police saying just after capturing the suspect, this is the man weve been after, if they knew this, if people knew or thought straight away after the abduction, the police should have put an alert out , that a girl missing could be with this man and he has a blue land rover, little girl might have been saved .   even now the posters ive seen say did you see a light coloured van .

yep David Icke was always wrong about Jimmy Savile ay

AT - Surely if you're looking for someone or even something like a set of keys you need to separate the improbable from the possible...the more info the better. Yes there is protocol that needs to be followed but this search was time-critical - perhaps better direction could have been given by the authorities without compromising the case.

David Icke's a nut and the Holly Greig fairytale is the product of some unstable minds.

AT you can say what you like about Icke,sure he is an odd ball, but he also highlights cases like Hollie Greig.

Do you not think there is any cover ups on these paedophile rings? Hollie received compensation in the early stages of the inquiry but then the case was stonewalled. Hollies mother has been around the world highlighting this case on radio stations. Do you know anything about the cover ups in Belgium?

Credit to the town there for a touching service in a beautiful church, with a good turnout of villagers inside and outside, heartbreaking story.

Former abattoir worker Bridger

I think they know body has been dismembered

Former abattoir worker Bridger

I think they know body has been dismembered

The service was themed as 'hope', hope in adversity i suppose.

I wonder what angle Kate Burley will take from the service.

Don't think that the news channels are that interested anymore, did cover the service well but don't expect to hear much more on this unless there's a holy miracle

Where is that 'head in hands man' when you need him most?

I dont think the oublic will be interested now until the trial except for a few days if they find the body.

Public

i reckon it is good that the media should just let the trial go ahead without reporting to much on the past with the people involved, especially the 5 year old family they don't need the press having a dig at them at these difficult times

Surprised with the extensive searches they haven't found the body, if he did kill her and dumped in the river surely she would have shown up

Ok the press will come back for the final twist...gotta feeling that something major will happen soon....too much been kept away from the public...someone will crack

bfda having a poor run still struggling with the french killings

Thought it was known as CCDA?  A few theories have been put forward on here which mainly resolve around a connection with the family and the accused...very little to go on though with no info released during the week

the suspect got all bases covered worked in an abattoir so used to dismembering but also an ex welder used to joining them back together again,

Dunno...but did the guy look evil to you...looked a plank but not evil to me. As Morse would say - 'Where's the evidence Lewis?' We've been told nowt...DNA? anyone's guess...cover up for the family re previous relationships? anyone's guess...vehicle description/father not at press conference/concentrating on 20 sites/not searching local houses....one trick pony for the authorities re matey...not convinced by any of it and a girl still missing.

Well my girlfriend feels that theve found evidence in his house that hes killed her...................only a thought.......so sad.......haunts me to post........

Ok but the public that have invested so much into this awful case surely have to the right to know...they have the guy apparently

Theyve been told not to keep looking.  A shame they cant release more info but unfortunately the gutter press have proven themselves consistently incapable of reporting these matters responsibly.

Ok Rob but what new info has been released since they arrested matey?

They must presumably have some cast iron evidence (surely lots of DNA?) to charge him with no body? I spose he could have confessed but it seeemed to me like they had some very good evidence and were extending his questioning to get a confession or location of the body?

Though lets be honest here CCDA needs neither a body or DNA to convict.I was personally hoping he looked more a "wrong un" but seems to be little doubt in OB's mind he's the one,and on this occasion looks like they ahve their man.

Do baddies always look evil?

No you cannot obviously go by looks but in the case of the 'loft' crime it was 1.01....just going by instincts here but the concern is the abattoir connection...against the fact that he has 6 kids...undoubtedly a difficult investigation but don't feel that confident in the local authorities especially without public evidence

The usual ChitChat theory-a-minute approach, I see. Why not wait until any details are released. You already know all that you need to. You don't have 'a right to more information'. Allow the police to do their job. When they need public help you may be sure that they will let you know.

Naydam - how much more is known since the initial arrest?...many fine people have gone without sleep to search for the poor girl....maybe without reason but I hope not..if the authorities had done their job then it would be case closed...not impressed by them so far...

.

NorwichRob
07 Oct 12 21:26   
Naydam - how much more is known since the initial arrest?...many fine people have gone without sleep to search for the poor girl....maybe without reason but I hope not..if the authorities had done their job then it would be case closed...not impressed by them so far...

Okay D.I.NorwichRob, what should they have done?

I was going to suggest that the police are mainly interested in what has happened to this missing girl.
I doubt very much that are concerned with your feelings...or of any search personnel, come to that.

I'm confused on why police are charging anyone with April Jones' murder. Isn't assumption of murder a bit premature? Can they prove murder?

ClayDavis. How can anybody outside of a very small circle of police or lawyers and suspects be exopected to answer a question like that?

the police in this case have been hopeless imo. all i can go on is what ive read or seen on news etc, but bridger was a prime suspect from beginning so an alert should have been put out straight away.they should have known what car/ van he had instead of messing about with light coloured van etc.   the police were interviwing his next door neighbour when they casually said weve just seen mark walking along the road just outside the village, the police then stormed after him, this was a bloke casually walking while he was a chief suspect in a child abduction caseand cops looking everywere for him supposedly, then on friday it  seems they were searching his house, this nearly 4 days afterwards , should have been done immediatly.  theyve been searching for days now outside his house, i might be proved wrong but is he realy that stupid to bury her there, .

River...1.01....if girl is dead...

He's done a bloody good job of hiding her. It's not even likely that she has washed down the river without getting caught on something.

What motive are the CC detectives opting for?

Agree AM, more likely she's on land than the river

Weighted down perhaps,rather than just thrown in?

Elisjohn. The grey van description came from the children she was playing with. Why would Bridger be an immediate suspect? Why are you so sure that he is the guilty party? You say they've got everything else wrong!

The perverting the course of justice one gets me. I thought if he said nothing, no body turns up, flaky evidence and eye witnesses, there would be chance of a conviction.
But he has obviously - according to the cops - been telling porkies.
Of course he may have confessed hence the murder charge. But not really sure how the cops can charge him with murder otherwise

maybe april dna on him we dont know about

naydam, im not saying hes the murderer/ abducter, i said from all ive seen on sky etc, there was a report straight away,      that the family of april told the police to go after him they suspected him from the moment it hapened, also it says that one of the kids was the suspects daughter, surely she would know her dad .

you would have thought there was traces of her blood in the vehicle or at another place.....but then again that info hasnt been told to the public....if not why not??? have to admit if thats the case then its a bit strange.

not sure dna would be anough in a case like this as wasnt he close to the family??

yes close to the family, and april had been in the landrover before with him and his kids to the beach, alegedly

For starters they could have better utilised all the questioning time to achieve a breakthrough, to pinpoint the most likely search area...even if confronted with a stonewall approach there must be experts who can provoke a response eventually.

Don't see how people can blame the police thus far? far as i can see they made a pretty early arrest and have charged the guy with Muyder?

Sure they don't have a body but looks like a mammoth effort to rectify that.

Theyve released virtually zero facts on the case so wild speculation,supposition and lurid claims (CCDA default settings) are all that anyone can really offer??

Don't see why 'perverting court of justice' charge would necessarily mean telling porkies. Could just as easily be  given the circumstances that they allege he destroyed evidence by washing/burning clothes cleaned vehicle/house etc.

Why would the police release any more info. now? Court proceedings have began and the accused is under the protection of the court. They can't just start telling everyone what evidence they have before he goes on trial.

On the info. released so far I don't see how anybody could confidently say the police have been a shambles or that he must be guilty. All the police need to charge someone is sufficient evidence of a crime. Nobody knows what evidence this is. Could merely be some circumstancial stuff until they get results of forensics back which take time.

Chit-chatters barking up the wrong tree if they expect the OB to be issuing updates on what evidence they have.

They might have little more than April's DNA in his vehicle  - and with there being no innocent reason why it should be there and April vanished off the face of the earth - CPS will be thinking conviction is a slam-dunk.

G1_Jockey_4
08 Oct 12 17:34   
you would have thought there was traces of her blood in the vehicle or at another place.....but then again that info hasnt been told to the public....if not why not??? have to admit if thats the case then its a bit strange.

not sure dna would be anough in a case like this as wasnt he close to the family??

There maybe no blood. If he did kill her, he could have smothered her or strangled her.

Surely not all dna is the same... Ie a few strands of hair vs blood stains.  The former could be argued as her being in the car before innocently enough, the latter not so easily argued.  Not to mention dna in his house.

elisjohn. To be honest,I'm not aware that the parents told the police to chase up Bridger. I don't know if his daughter named him, or not.
Basically, we know nothing whatsoever about the chain of events, and that is how it should be.

naydam, it was quite widely reported that the mother told the police to go after Bridger

Which means nothing. The first reports of the shot policewoman a few weeks back gave her age as 19.

So is this guy maintaining his innocence. Or is he refusing to tell police where the body is. Don't understand. ?

Well, if he is manintaining his innocence, hed be a twunt if he told them where the body was, don't you think?

Is facts for real?

never knew before, but if someone is charged with an offence then he cannot be questioned again by police.

naydam, it was quite widely reported that the mother told the police to go after Bridger

makes you wonder then even more why the family were quite happy to let their 5 year old be playing out without any parental supervision in the near dark when they thought there was someone out there capable of this

probably whatever the issue between him and the family they never thought for one moment something like this might be the outcome

Oct 8, 2012 -- 2:57PM, SqueezeFirmly wrote:

Well, if he is manintaining his innocence, hed be a twunt if he told them where the body was, don't you think?

Indeed. Hence why the Perverting The Course Of Justice charge is fairly baffling. Seems he is effectively being charged with not pleading guilty

Hence why the Perverting The Course Of Justice charge is fairly baffling. Seems he is effectively being charged with not pleading guilty


Thank you.

Trust you get it now Bob !

Bearing in mind what little the public know of this case, i.e. A child has gone missing and a man has been arrested in connection with this and is facing three charges (murder, abduction and perverting the course of justice), there are some very imaginative conclusions being drawn here.

So he breaks down in tears in court and was biting his bottom lip all the way through - doesn't sound to me like a cold and calculating murderer to me or someone who would be able to withstand the pressure that plod applied during the interviews

surely though the police must have some real concrete evidence, or they wouldnt have charged him so soon, coz dna of the girl in the landrover is not going to convict him.

Thats the next bit init................claim hes barking

Perverting the course of justice doesn't just include not telling the police where a body is. It's far more likely to be in relation to an allegation of destroying eveidence of the murder.

Its strange though.  Most murder enquiries might offer that charge, but they don't seem to do it.  I wonder if the "bum steer" he gave them is responsible for them not finding the body through lost time and so they are charging to reflect the seriousness of the consequences.

Not necessarily. It's not perverting the course of justice just because you don't own up straight away or deny a crime. Everybody has the right not to incirminate themeslves. Often in these cases where there has been an attempted destroying of evidence they will be charged with this. The Crown can't lead evidence about a crime which does not form part of the formal chrages. Therefore if it were to go to trial they wouldn't be able to lead evidence of destroying evidence (a crime) unless there was a charge of perverting the course of justice in the same way the prosecution will often attach lesser crimes to the list of charges which they may not be able to prove to allow them to lead evidence about them which may reveal motive/reason for the persons actions to the jury.

"Thats the next bit init................claim hes barking"

It will be just sickening if he plays the system and claims some mental health issue, too many people doing that, even Abu Hamza tried to play that card at the end, but a judge ruled in favour of common sense and still kicked him out !

It's an absolute disgrace people can make a mockery of the justice system by claiming they are nuts.  Too many people been watching One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest !

shrewd, you seem to know quite a bit, can you answer my question posted earlier, that if a person is charged, that the police canot question himafterwards, ie this chap now in manchester cant be asked nowt re the disppearance etc,   hear this on tv,

No I don't think so. Once someone is charged then he becomes under the protection of the court.

elisjohn 08 Oct 12 21:26 Joined: 15 Jun 03 | Topic/replies: 7,520 | Blogger: elisjohn's blog
never knew before, but if someone is charged with an offence then he cannot be questioned again by police.

neither did i

Was anybody else surprised that the Godmother turned up at the courts yesterday? Not altogether comfortable with that.

What does claiming insanity or whatever achieve?  If you kill a 5yo child onpurpose you are by definition mad i would say, and should never be released as you can never be trusted again.  Can he get a reduced sentence, on the presumption he is guilty of course.

It achieves a better jail

Well done CCDA, correct again. Bridger is related to April and family after so many women in the community have his children.

On the front page of telegraph website now. "Tangled family ties".

Thanks for the update AM...good spot...what a tangled web indeed.