April Jones trial: Bridger claims alcohol caused memory loss
Former slaughterhouse worker Mark Bridger, accused of abducting and murdering April Jones in a “sexually motivated” attack claims his heavy-drinking lifestyle affects his recollection of events.
The 47-year-old from Ceinws, mid-Wales , denies abduction, murder and intending to pervert the course of justice by disposing of, concealing or destroying April Jones‘ body.
Bridger took to the witness box and answered questions from his barrister, Brendan Kelly QC, about his history, explaining why he lied to police about being trained by the SAS. He claimed he lied about having a military career because he didn’t want people to know he had problems with his past.
He also claimed he regularly drank between 15 and 25 cans of cider a day along with a bottle of wine and slept for just a few hours each night. He said alcohol affected his memory at times and said he suffered with anxiety, having been on anti-depressants for the last 12 years.
Everyone seemed to want to know who I was, where I was from, my past, my present
Mark Bridger
April’s disappearance on 1 October last year led to the biggest search operation in British policing history but her body was never found.
The prosecution claim Bridger snatched and murdered April in a “sexually motivated” attack, Bridger claims he accidentally ran her over and accepts that he must have got rid of her body but cannot remember how.
Memory loss
He told the court he would wake at 2am and start to drink. Asked about his activities before April’s disappearance he explained he did “what I did every day, open a can of cider. First one would go down in 15 seconds, check the dogs, prep the fire.”
He claimed alcohol affected his memory: “When I was drunk I had problems remembering dates and times”.
On Saturday 29 September he picked up two of his children and took them for a walk in the hills then cooked chicken for their evening meal.
He told the court he cooked with a log wood burner – the prosecution claim bone fragments found in the burner were those of April, the claim is disputed by the defence.
The trial heard Bridger viewed child pornography images on his laptop on the day April went missing and that forensic investigators discovered traces of April’s blood in Bridger’s living room and bathroom.
Online activity
When asked about indecent images found on his laptop, Bridger told the court he had written letters to the companies publishing them to complain. He also claimed cartoon images showing child sexual abuse were found “accidentally while looking up some cartoon thing for my daughter”.
The court heard how at 10am on Monday 31 Septemberhe logged on to Facebook and looked at 32 images of a local 14-year-old girl. Asked to explain his activity on Facebook Bridger said he wanted to speak to the girl’s mother about “certain things”.
“My son, I had heard was in a relationship, or had been in a relationship and got a girl pregnant. It was rumoured he was involved with certain girls, so I had looked up certain girls.”
Bridger had told the police he was trained by the SAS and seconded to the British army, when asked why he lied about his military experience he responded: “When I moved close to the Machynlleth area everyone seemed to want to know who I was, where I was from, my past, my present.
“I didn’t want them to know I had had problems with my past. That stuck with me for…until now.”
Bridger claims he doesn’t ‘remember a lot’ after giving, he says, his final mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to #apriljones
— Andy Davies (@adavies4) May 22, 2013