- .Mark Bridger, 47, is accused of killing and disposing of schoolgirl, 5
- .April's best friend, 7, saw him driving her away in his Land Rover
- .999 call made by Coral Jones after daughter's abduction made Bridger cry
- .Prosecution say her murder was 'sexually motivated' and 'cruel'
- .Police find her blood, some bone fragments and a knife in his home
- .Child pornography and images of April were found on Bridger's computer
- .Pictures of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, murdered by Soham killer Ian Huntley, also found downloaded on his PC a week before April's death
- .Bridger says he hit her with his car and cannot remember anything else
The abattoir worker accused of killing schoolgirl April Jones wiped away tears in the dock today as a 999 call made by her distraught mother was played during his murder trial.
Through sobs and screams Coral Jones told a police operator: 'Please...please my daughter has been kidnapped...my daughter,' after it became clear the five-year-old had been abducted.
Mold Crown Court also heard that April's blood was found in the living room, hallway and bathroom in the home of Mark Bridger, 47, as well as a bone believed to be from her skull.
The prosecution say April's seven-year-old best friend saw him snatch the 'happy and smiling' disabled child in his Land Rover near her home in Machynlleth, mid-Wales. Her body has never been found.
The 47-year-old had 'a clear interest in child pornography and in child murder cases', with pictures of April and Ian Huntley's victims Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman saved on his computer a week before he killed, the jury was told.
Prosecutor Elwen Evans QC said the murder was 'sexually motivated' and Bridger 'played a cruel game' by trying to hide the murder of April, whose parents listened from the public gallery.
Sketch: Mark Bridger was seen for the first time today in the dock at Mold Crown Court, where he is accused of abducting and murdering April Jones, 5. He is seen using headphones to help him follow proceedings
Harrowing: Coral and Paul Jones (left), the parents of missing April (right), arrive at Mold Crown Court for the trial of Mark Bridger wearing pink ribbons in her memory
'On October 1 last year April Jones, happy and smiling, was seen getting into the defendant’s Land Rover vehicle,’ Miss Evans told the jury of nine women and three men.
‘He drove her away and that was the last that anyone apart from the defendant saw of April. The largest search in British policing history has failed to find her.
‘April’s best friend saw the abduction taking place. She saw the defendant speaking to April. She saw April getting into his Land Rover vehicle and she saw the defendant taking April away.’
Case: Mark Bridger claims he did take away April Jones but cannot remember what happened to her
Mrs Jones's 999 call was made after her son raised the alarm that she had been kidnapped.
Mrs Jones was heard shouting: ‘My daughter has been kidnapped.’
Her friend then took the phone and said: 'She’s gone off in a car with somebody. We’ve just been told. A big grey car and a man driving'.
Later, Coral took the phone again and was hyperventilating, screaming and crying, and through sobs said: 'Somebody’s kidnapped April. Someone’s kidnapped April.'
The jury was then shown a photo of the cottage where Bridger lived - and where April's blood and DNA were found.
'This is the house where the blood, the bone fragments were found. That cottage is three miles from Machynlleth, called Mount Pleasant, and situated very close above the river there,' the prosecutor said.
Miss Evans continued: 'The defendant appears to have spent a lot of time outdoors, participating in what he calls survival and bushcraft.
'He claimed to know the rugged terrain around Machynlleth well, and that's been a significant feature in police determining the size, scope and scale in their search for April.
'The defendant told people he had a career in the armed services, including serving in the SAS and had excelled during his military service.
'Military records have of course been checked,' Miss Evans said, adding: 'His account of any career in the army, in the forces, was a lie and a fantasy. He just never served in the Army.'
In fact Bridger worked in an abattoir between 2009 and 2012 but more recently, at the time of April's disappearance, he was working at a local guest house.
Hunt: An appeal poster for information on missing child April Jones is displayed in a window Machynlleth, mid-Wales, but her body was never found
The prosecution said how Bridger himself admits that ‘it is he who drove her away. He admits April is dead’.
Bridger claims that he ran over April in his Land Rover, put her in his car and drove her around the village with her 'dead or dying' in his car.
‘He accepts that he must have got rid of her body. He says he can’t remember what happens thereafter. He says he was too drunk,' Miss Evans said.
‘Mark Bridger abducted April. He murdered her and he went to enormous length to try to cover up what he had done. His actions were sexually motivated. He knows full well what he has done to April but chooses not to say.
'He is playing a clear game in pretending not to know what he has done to her. It is a game to try to save himself.
'April cannot tell us [what happened], the defendant will not tell us.
'He has played, we say, a cruel game in pretending not to know what he has done to her'.
Trial: Mark Bridger arrives at Mold Crown Court, charged with abducting and murdering April Jones, and of unlawfully disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice
Bridger, wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt and striped tie, sat staring ahead as he listened to the evidence.
A large snake tattoo could be seen on his left forearm and he wore headphones to help him hear the proceedings.
The prosecutor said Bridger had performed an ‘extensive clean up to try to get rid of any evidence’ at his home, which included ‘disposing of April’s body and all of her clothes’.
‘Despite his best efforts, the defendant failed to get rid of all the evidence,’ she added.
‘Traces of blood were found in the living room, hallway and bathroom and the DNA matches April’s DNA.’
A ‘concentration’ of blood was found in front of his wood burner, close to a number of knives and a badly burned ‘boning knife’.
Bridger was an ‘experienced swordsman’ and knew how to use knives, the court heard. Small fragments of unidentifiable bones were also found at his house.
On the day April was abducted Bridger had viewed online photographs of a young girl and a pornographic cartoon depicting, Miss Evans said, the apparent rape of a physically restrained and visibly distressed girl.
The same day, a girlfriend had finished with the defendant and there was an exchange of final text messages.
'You will see the defendant unsuccessfully contact a number of women asking them to go out with him,' Miss Evans added.
Hearing: The case at Mold Crown Court is due to last until mid-June. Today a panel of 50 potential jurors was selected was whittled down to a final 12 to hear the case
Miss Evans said analysis of Bridger's computer use showed 'context and motive' for his behaviour towards April.
Tragedy: Five-year-old April Jones disappeared from her home town of Machynlleth, Wales on October 1 and allegedly killed by Mark Bridger
'In addition to child pornography and photos of young girls, the defendant also had an interest in child murder and rape cases; for example, images of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman from the Soham case,
'You (the jury) will have to decide whether pretty five-year-old April was abducted and murdered or run over by accident and killed, as the defendant says.
'We say his interest in pornography, young girls, rape and murder cases is all too relevant and you may see it as the key to understanding what he did and why he did what he did.
The jury heard some of the search terms found on Bridger's laptop included "Naked young five-year-old girls" and "nudism five-year-old" and "France: British schoolgirl raped and murdered".'
This morning April Jones's parents Coral and Paul arrived at court for the trial of the man accused of her murder.
The trial of the former lifeguard could last seven weeks, the judge has said.
Bridger, of Ceinws, denies abducting and murdering April, and of unlawfully disposing of and concealing her body with intent to pervert the course of justice.
The jury of nine women and three men was selected today and the trial is expected to open, with the prosecution presenting its case, later.
The disappearance of April, who had cerebral palsy, sparked a massive outpouring of support for her family, with hundreds of people joining the search.
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