25 April 2023 , 13:23
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Piercing screams of a seven-year-old girl were heard moments before she was murdered, a jury was told today.
They watched CCTV footage which gave one 'final tragic glimpse' of seven-year-old Nikki Allan as she 'skipped to her death' behind her killer more than 30 years ago.
The flickering black and white film showed her a few steps behind a man who was a 'dead ringer' for David Boyd, the neighbour accused of her murder, said Richard Wright, KC, prosecuting.
He read a statement taken at the time from witness Carol Osbourne, whose flat was on the street opposite the Old Exchange building in Hendon, Sunderland, where Nikki was killed on October 7, 1992.
She said: "There was a scream which sounded like it came from the other side of the High St. It was quite a piercing scream which I took as coming from a girl.
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David Boyd is on trial accused of murdering the seven-year-old (Kevin Donald KTD Media)
Nikki suffered a shattered skull and stab wounds (PA)"However, because there are always local kids playing in that area I carried on reading my book until a couple of minutes later the same thing happened again, there was a single scream from the same direction.
"It sounded as if it came from the same person, a girl again, but I did not look out of the window.
"I have since read all the publicity in the local press about the murder of Nikki Allan and the fact her body was found in the old derelict building opposite my flat, and what I know now is that it was coming from the direction of that building."
MacFish factory worker Patricia Irwin was passing the Exchange building when she heard what sounded like 'a cat wailing' or 'the howling wind' shortly before 10pm on the same night, as she made her way home at the end of her shift.
It alarmed her enough to tell her co-workers as they walked to a nearby bus stop, the jury heard. "We were just outside the main front door (of the building)," she said.
Sharon Henderson, mother of Nikki Allen, enters court (Newcastle Chronicle)
The family have waited 30 years for justice (Police Handout)"It was the sound of either a cat wailing or the howling wind from inside. This unnerved me and my suspicions were aroused. I remember saying to the others 'listen to that'. They replied it was just a cat."
The last person to see Nikki alive was Margaret Hodgson, who was driving to the Macfish factory to pick her mother up from work, with her 13-year-old niece in the car. It was 9.51pm, as she looked at her watch when her niece asked what time her mother finished work.
In her statement, read to the jury, Mrs Hodgson added: "At this same time my attention was drawn to a man walking with a very small girl. These two approached from my right hand side from the direction of the dock gates.
"They were walking along the road together. When I first saw them they were 30ft away. The lighting was good, illuminated by the big beam in the yard and street lighting.
"They were walking together but not hand in hand. At intervals the little girl would drop behind then skip to catch the man up. They appeared to be father and daughter. The girl appeared to be walking freely.
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Boyd is standing trial at Newcastle Crown Court (NCJ Media)"Every so often the man would turn around to see if the girl was there. Nothing appeared untoward. I did comment to my niece that it was late for a girl so young to be out. They walked past my car and disappeared to my left side."
Nikki Allan's dad David Allan joined the search for his daughter. He told police: "I was so distressed I couldn't see properly to drive. I couldn't believe Nikki could be in that area and not be found given the dozens of people we saw looking for her."
Boyd, known as David Smith at the time, was present on occasions when his girlfriend Caroline Branton babysat for Nikki. In a statement taken from him in the days after Nikki's murder, he told how he knew Nikki's family and he had seen her playing outside Wear Garth at 9.30pm on the night she died.
He had been into the disused Exchange Building four days before Nikki was found. He was with some local youngsters 'looking for pigeons', and described how to gain entry through a partially boarded up window.
He was the last man to see Nikki alive, said Mr Wright.
Boyd, of Norton, Stockton, denies murder.
The trial at Newcastle crown court, expected to last six weeks, continues.