Murder accused weeps at court hearing

Poignant tributes were paid to missing five-year-old April Jones last night as Chinese lanterns were released into the night sky.

Well-wishers lit candles and released the symbolic glowing lights after the little girl’s parents asked for her to be remembered, one week on from her disappearance.

It is believed Coral Jones, 40, and husband Paul, 44, released their own Chinese lantern from their garden in Machynlleth in a private remembrance, several hours after the five-year-old’s alleged killer was remanded by magistrates.

Yesterday, the former lifeguard accused of the five-year-old’s abduction and murder wept as he appeared in court. Mark Bridger, 46, cried to himself as he confirmed his name, age, and address, and that he understood the charges.

Mr Bridger is accused of abducting and murdering April, and of unlawfully disposing of and concealing of her body with intent to pervert the course of justice.

There were angry scenes yesterday outside Aberystwyth Magistrates’ Court as the police van Mr Bridger was in was punched and kicked while members of the crowd shouted “scum” and “fucking kill him”.

During the four-minute hearing Mr Bridger, who wore a blue jumper, was remanded in custody to appear at Caernarfon Crown Court tomorrow.

April was last seen near her home on the Bryn-y- Gog estate in the mid-Wales town of Machynlleth last Monday evening. Bridger was arrested the following day, but the search for April’s body goes on.

She was last seen getting into what is believed to have been a Land Rover Discovery. Her parents had allowed her to play out late as a treat after she received a glowing school report that day at a parents’ evening which Mr Bridger also attended.

Mr Bridger, who owns a Discovery, was arrested last Tuesday afternoon and charged on Saturday.

The case sparked an outpouring of support for April’s parents, with hundreds of people joining in the search and offering their assistance. On Sunday, more than 700 people packed into Machynlleth’s St Peter’s Church to attend a service.

Rev Kathleen Rogers, who led the ceremony, said prayers for April’s parents and paid tribute to the community who had pulled together to help in the search. She read a touching poem on behalf of April’s mother called Mum as Bishop of Bangor, Rev Andy John, said the tight-knit community had “touched the heart of people around the world”.

He revealed emails had been received from as far afield as South Africa and New Zealand — with a church in Texas even making a donation.

Mountain rescue teams were stood down on Sunday night as the search operation switched emphasis. Night- time search efforts have been suspended, with the shift in manpower being described as a change of “resources rather intensity”.

Superintendent Ian John, who was in court for Mr Bridger’s hearing, paid tribute to mountain rescue volunteers “who have worked themselves to a standstill in the search for April”. “We are upping our numbers to 18 teams which will be over 100 officers,” he said.