A bare-chested man resembling defendant Stuart Campbell asked Danielle Jones if she wanted a lift home as she bought sweets at the village post office, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

A close pal of the missing 15-year-old told the jury how Danielle had introduced her and another friend to the man as her uncle while they shopped in the East Tilbury post office.

Campbell, 44, stands accused of kidnapping and murdering Danielle, his niece, who disappeared from East Tilbury in June last year. He denies the charges.

The teenaged witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "He was quite tall, with darkish hair, shorts and boots, and a T-shirt over his shoulder. He was of quite stocky build and was bare-chested.

"He asked, 'Do you want a lift, Danielle?'

"She turned to us and asked if we minded. We said we didn't.

"He said he was working in the area and would be going past her house. They went off in a blue Ford Transit."

The girl said she spotted the van in Tilbury around a week later when the same man, again bare-chested according to the witness, pulled up behind her and two friends - including Danielle.

Of the second incident, the teenager told the court: "The window was open on the van on the passenger's side.

"He said, 'Would you like a lift home, as I'm doing some work around your area?' "Danielle just opened the door and said, 'I'll see you tomorrow.'"

During yesterday's hearing, judge Mr Justice Stuart McKinnon asked: "Was he bare-chested?"

The girl replied: "Yes."

She said the events took place in October - but Michael Borrelli QC, defending, exclaimed: "He was wearing shorts - but this was early October.

I suggest to you that he wasn't bare-chested.

"On another occasion, you suggest he was wearing a T-shirt."

Stuart Campbell, 44, of Meadow Road, Grays, denies the abduction and murder of Danielle Jones, of Hayle, East Tilbury. The case continues

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Published Thursday October 24, 2002

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