Nikki Allan murder trial: Jurors shown sketch of suspect and pictures of how man accused looked at time of Sunderland schoolgirl's killing

By Tom Wilkinson, PA
Published 24th Apr 2023, 12:34 BST
Updated 25th Apr 2023, 10:24 BST
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Jurors in the trial of a man accused of murdering a seven-year-old girl in 1992 have seen an artist's sketch of a suspect and photos of the defendant at the time.

Newcastle Crown Court has also been shown grainy CCTV footage of what prosecutors say is David Boyd, then aged 25, walking with Nikki Allan to the scene where she was hit with a brick and stabbed 37 times.

Boyd, now 55, of Chesterton Court, Stockton, Teesside, is alleged to have murdered the schoolgirl in a derelict building near the flats where they lived separately in Hendon, Sunderland.

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Witness Margaret Hodgson saw a girl skipping to catch up with a man walking ahead of her in the area on the night of October 7 1992, jurors were told.

Photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of an artist's impression of the suspect in the murder of seven-year-old Nikki Allan, which has been shown to the jury during the trial of David Boyd. Boyd, of Norton, is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court charged with the murder of seven-year-old Nikki Allan whose body was discovered in the Old Exchange Building near her family home in October 1992. Issue date: Monday April 24, 2023.Photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of an artist's impression of the suspect in the murder of seven-year-old Nikki Allan, which has been shown to the jury during the trial of David Boyd. Boyd, of Norton, is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court charged with the murder of seven-year-old Nikki Allan whose body was discovered in the Old Exchange Building near her family home in October 1992. Issue date: Monday April 24, 2023.
Photo issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of an artist's impression of the suspect in the murder of seven-year-old Nikki Allan, which has been shown to the jury during the trial of David Boyd. Boyd, of Norton, is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court charged with the murder of seven-year-old Nikki Allan whose body was discovered in the Old Exchange Building near her family home in October 1992. Issue date: Monday April 24, 2023.

Four days later, Mrs Hodgson helped a police artist to produce a sketch of the man.

Prosecutor Richard Wright KC, when he opened the case last Thursday, said the sketch bore a "striking resemblance" to photos of Boyd taken around the time.

On Monday, Mr Wright read a statement from the defendant's mother, in which she described how Boyd, also known as Smith and Bell, came to be photographed in a family setting when he was around 18 and at a Christmas gathering when he was about 25.

The jury has previously heard that Boyd was not considered a suspect at the time of the killing in 1992, and that another man was prosecuted and cleared of Nikki's murder.

The trial continues.