Nikki Allan murder trial hears Sunderland girl 'seen skipping to her death' as DNA evidence referenced

Neighbour David Boyd took Nikki Allan to a disused building in an area of wasteland in Sunderland in October 1992, where he beat her with a brick and shattered her skull before stabbing her multiple times until she was dead,it is claimed.

A witness had seen a young girl, who prosecutors claim was Nikki, with a man, walking towards the area where she was killed and said she would skip to catch up if she fell behind him as they walked.

Her body was found inside the Old Exchange building the following day.

Prosecutor Richard Wright KC told Newcastle Crown Court: "That was Nikki Allan.

"She was with her killer and she was unwittingly skipping to her death."

Boyd, 55, of Chesterton Court, Norton, Stockton, Teesside, denies murder and is being tried by a jury.

DNA testing

The court heard modern scientific testing found DNA matching Boyd on multiple places on Nikki's clothing.

Mr Wright told jurors: "Over thirty years ago, on the night of the 7th October 1992, a little girl called Nikki Allan was lured away from the block of flats in which she lived and down towards the River Wear in Sunderland.

"The man who led her away took her into an area of wasteland behind a disused building. There, he struck her at least one blow that caused her to bleed.

"He then forced her through an opening in a boarded up window into the derelict building.

"It was the only point of access to that building and this man plainly knew that building well and knew exactly where and how to get into it.

"Inside the building the man who took her there beat Nikki Allan about the head with a brick. He shattered her skull.

"He then used a knife to stab her repeatedly through her chest, the knife being driven in and out of her body many times through the same hole, into her heart, into her lungs, making sure of the job of killing her.

"He lifted and dragged her downstairs into the blackness of the basement, and no doubt knowing his way around, navigated the series of rooms, dragging her with him, and dumping her body in the corner of an end room, where he must have hoped she would remain undetected, but where in fact she would be found the next morning by two of the many local residents who were desperately searching for her.

"Nikki Allan was seven years old."

The court heard in 1993 a man called George Heron was found not guilty of Nikki's murder at Leeds Crown Court.

Mr Wright told the court: "The jury found him not guilty of murder. They were right to do so. George Heron was not the killer of Nikki Allan.

"The killer of Nikki Allan was David Boyd, the man sitting in the dock at the back of this Court."

Mr Wright said Boyd was known in 1992 as David Smith or David Bell at the time.

He lived close to Nikki in the same block of flats at Wear Garth in Sunderland.

Mr Wright said Boyd knew the building where Nikki was murdered well and knew how to get into it.

He added: "He constructed a false alibi in 1992, when he benefited from the attention of the police being wrongly focused on an innocent man and he even provided a statement for use in the original trial.

"He was, by his own admission, the last man to see her alive that night, having her in his sight until the moments before she was lured away.

"He was, by his own admission, out of his flat alone at the time that she went missing.

"He closely resembles the description of the man who killed Nikki. Modern scientific testing has revealed his DNA on her clothing in multiple areas.

"The case against David Boyd is a circumstantial one but it is, we will invite you to conclude, a compelling one, a case that will enable you to come to the sure and safe conclusion that he is guilty of her murder."

‘Lured away’

Mr Wright said Nikki was "lured away" rather than abducted by her killer and a witness saw a young girl, at shortly before 10pm on the night Nikki went missing, with a man.

Mr Wright said: "The little girl would occasionally drop behind and would then skip to catch up. This was Nikki Allan. She was with her killer and she was unwittingly skipping to her death.

"Given that description, her young age, the time of night, and the fact that she would have been aware that she was walking for some distance, away from her home, and away from a residential area, you may sensiblyconclude that she was at the least comfortable in the company of her killer and that he was not a stranger to her."

Mr Wright said Nikki was last seen at 9.43pm that evening outside a pub called The Boar's Head, opposite the block of flats where she lived, about five minutes away from the Old Exchange Building.

The court heard a CCTV camera captured a grainy image of the killer walking ahead of Nikki, towards the Old Exchange Building just before 10pm and witnesses heard screams at around 10pm.

Mr Wright said Boyd was well known to Nikki's family and his girlfriend used to babysit her.

Mr Wright said there was no clear motive for the killing and added: "One distinct possibility is that her brutal death was not what had been intended at the outset but was instead brought about by her ability to identify theperson who had taken her there and had hurt her outside the building."The court heard on the day she was killed Nikki had been seen playing, along with other children, around the area known as The Garths.The trial continues.