Stockton man, now 55, denies murder of Sunderland schoolgirl in 1992

Following three weeks of evidence in the Newcastle Crown Court trial of defendant David Thomas Boyd, prosecution and defence counsel have completed their closing speeches in the case and the judge, Mrs Justice Christina Lambert, has begun her summing up of the evidence given to the jury over the course of the hearing.

In his closing speech today (Thursday May 11), defence counsel, Jason Pitter KC, urged the jury not to take a “blinkered approach” in reaching its verdict.

He represents 55-year-old Boyd, of Chesterton Court, Norton, Stockton, who denies the murder of the seven-year-old schoolgirl.

Read more: Nikki Allan: Stockton man lacks 'courage' to give evidence

Her battered and repeatedly-stabbed body was found dumped in the basement of the derelict Old Exchange Building, in Sunderland’s East End, in October 1992.

The trial jury was previously told that the defendant, then aged 25 and living in the same Wear Garth flat block as Nikki’s family, was never a suspect at the time, even though he claimed to have been the last male to have seen her alive, other than the killer, shortly before her disappearance.

Police were said to have focused their attention on another neighbour, George Heron, who was soon charged with her murder, but acquitted after a trial at Leeds Crown Court, in 1993.

Making his defence closing address to the jury, Mr Pitter said, in the latest re-investigation of evidence in the long-unsolved case, the police have adopted, “a blinkered approach, ignoring a compelling body of evidence”, in inferring the killer must be, “the man in the dock”.

He told the jury: “We say that this is not the first time that assertion has been made.

“The difference we have here is that it is not George Heron.

“We can see why the prosecution may want to point the finger at him (the defendant) and say that there are things that may be suspicious.

“But, if you remove the blinkers, the wider inference and proper conclusion is you can’t be sure it was him.”

He said the Crown’s case has been made, “entirely and purely on circumstantial evidence.”

Read more: Video shows moment Nikki Allan Sunderland murder accused is arrested

Referring to the presence of some of the defendant’s dna on the clothing Nikki was wearing on the night she was killed, Mr Pitter said the prosecution has “clouded” the issue by saying it is, “necessarily the dna of the killer”.

Mr Pitter said the prosecution had also inferred that if it was the defendant’s dna, “it could only have got there because he was the killer.

“The evidence was presented as if the dna which matches his dna profile is profuse across her clothing, as if liberally spread out across those areas.

“It’s just in certain areas which they say is consistent with him (the defendant) picking her up and putting her though the window (of the Old Exchange Building).

“That would require a surgical and near military operation.”

Mr Pitter pointed out that there were profiles of other men on the clothing, including Nikki’s step-father.

“We don’t say it’s him, but it indicates the reality of other dna, of other people, being on the clothing.”

Referring to the witness statement given by the defendant to police during the original investigation, in which he told officers he saw Nikki at about 9.35pm on the night she disappeared, Mr Pitter said: “It would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to have just said nothing, or just to have said: ‘I was at home and didn’t see anything’.

“In essence, he was putting himself at home or in Wear Garth.”

Accounting for the defendant’s preference not to give evidence during the trial, Mr Pitter said he had already told police what he could in various interviews since his arrest in April 2018.

“Realistically, what more could he have said that he hasn’t said already, other than: ‘I didn’t do it’, if he didn’t do it.”

Mr Pitter said the defendant was “disarmed” in trying to account for gaps in his movements on the night of the killing given the passage of time since the killing.

He said people who could have backed up his account of where he went, including a former fish and chip shop, are no longer available to assist in the case.

“The prosecution say he must be put on the stand to ‘expose’ those gaps.

“It’s for the prosecution to make you sure that the strands of evidence and inferences are not just reasonable but make you sure he is the killer of Nikki Allan.”

He told the jury that if they thought his client was only, “probably”, “likely”, or, “suspected” to be responsible, then they should find him not guilty.

Mr Pitter concluded: “We urge you to take off the blinkers and reach that conclusion.”

Read next:

* Nikki Allan: Jury in David Boyd murder trial told how body was found

* Nikki Allan murder trial jury hears of find of new DNA evidence

* Start of trial of Stockton man accused of killing Nikki Allan in 1992

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Mrs Justice Lambert began her summing up of evidence, which she told the jurors she would probably end in mid-to-late morning, tomorrow (Friday).

At that stage, she told the jury members after which she would ask them to retire to consider their verdict in the case.

Proceeding.