Nikki Allan trial: Accused used same route as killer days before

Nikki Allan was killed on 7 October 1992

A man accused of murdering a seven-year-old girl in a derelict building had used the same method of access as the killer days before, a jury heard.

Nikki Allan was hit with a brick and repeatedly stabbed in Sunderland's Old Exchange building in October 1992.

David Boyd, 55, of Chesterton Court, Stockton-on-Tees, denies murder.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Mr Boyd, a neighbour of Nikki, was not seen as a suspect until 2017 when detectives spotted "inconsistencies" in his story.

Another neighbour in the Wear Garth block of flats, George Heron, was charged with her murder but found not guilty in 1993.

The court heard Northumbria Police relaunched the investigation in 2017 and identified "inconsistencies" surrounding Mr Boyd, who was also one of the last people to see Nikki alive.

He was spoken to twice in the weeks after the murder but detectives regarded him as a "helpful" neighbour rather than a suspect, the court heard.

Nikki was lured to the Old Exchange building and killed at about 22:00 on 7 October 1992, prosecutors have said, and her heavily bloodstained body was found the following morning.

In a statement from October 1992, the defendant, then aged 25, said he had been on the balcony of his third-floor flat at about 21:35 and saw Nikki with two friends in the adjoining playground.

He said he then went on an errand to a chip shop, a 10 minute walk away, and returned home shortly after 22:00.

Mr Boyd admitted he knew Nikki's family well as his then-partner was the girl's babysitter and he once looked after Nikki and her sister while the pair watched TV.

He also told police he was familiar with the Old Exchange as he had been in there a week before Nikki's death with a boy he knew looking for pigeons.

Jurors have been shown a picture of David Boyd which was taken in about 1992

Jurors watched footage of Mr Boyd being arrested at his home on 17 April 2018 in which he asked officers what evidence they had got.

The court then heard transcripts read out of his subsequent police interviews.

He told officers he had been sitting on his balcony and saw Nikki walk out of the playground by herself at about 21:30.

He said she was "definitely alone" and insisted the reference to two girls in his 1992 statements was a police error.

When asked if he had any involvement in the murder, he replied: "Nah."

He repeated that he had been in the Old Exchange the week before, but this time said he had been searching for wood to make a pigeon hut.

He described how he got in by climbing on to a wall and through a broken boarded up window.

Jurors previously heard that was the same point of entry used by the killer and Nikki's blood was found on the windowsill.

Nikki Allan was killed and her body abandoned in the Old Exchange building in the east end of Sunderland

Mr Boyd again told officers he had gone to the chip shop before returning home to have a bath and watch TV.

He later recalled it was "definitely light" when he saw Nikki and then went out, leaving police to conclude it must have been no later than 19:00.

He said he was not "worried" about seeing her outside at that time because children "all played out late", adding: "It was just the way it was back then."

Mr Boyd said he "didn't think anything of it" when he was told later that night that Nikki was missing.

Asked why he had not informed police that night that he had seen her, he said he "used to smoke the dope" which made him a "bit slow".

An aerial image of Sunderland taken in 1992 showing where Nikki lived (in rectangle) and died (in circle)

When quizzed about how he walked to his community service work the following morning, Mr Boyd replied: "This is ridiculous man, you're asking me daft questions."

He said he felt just "pure shock" when someone told him Nikki had been killed on 8 October.

When asked about discrepancies between his account of his movements and the accounts of other witnesses, for example one woman who said he went out at 20:30 rather than 21:30, Mr Boyd said it was a long time ago and he couldn't remember, adding: "I used to smoke the blow all the time, it used to knack my head in."

He later told police the timings were wrong in his initial statement which he said "must have been" down to officers changing his statement.

He said he didn't know if he told the truth to police in 1992.

In a further interview on 18 April 2018, after his lawyer had been shown DNA evidence, Mr Boyd said he had been spitting off his third-floor veranda which was something he often did.

He said he "just can't explain" how DNA matching his was on Nikki's t-shirt and leggings "unless she was standing beneath me when I was spitting off the veranda".

After being asked further about the DNA, Mr Boyd refused to answer any more questions, the court heard.

The trial previously heard a girl was seen walking with a man from the flats towards the derelict building shortly before 22:00 on 7 October 1992, with a scream heard moments later.

The only recurring male DNA found on her clothes matched Mr Boyd, the court has heard.

The trial continues.