NIKITTA TRIAL DAY 9: Follow our live blog

9:30am Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Nikitta trial live By Ailsa Chalk - Crime reporter

NIKITTA TRIAL DAY 9: Follow our live blog NIKITTA TRIAL DAY 9: Follow our live blog

FOLLOW our live blog of the Nikitta Grender trial with our reporters sending updates from 10.30am today.

Pregnant teenager Nikitta Grender was found dead at her Lliswerry home after a fire in February last year.

Carl Whant, 27, of no fixed address, stands accused of the rape and murder of Miss Grender on February 5 last year. He is also accused of arson and child destruction. He denies all the charges.

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See tomorrow's @southwalesargus for @ArgusBFrampton's coverage from today Wed Feb 01 17:40:55 2012
Case adjourned until 10.15 tomorrow #nikitta Wed Feb 01 16:01:34 2012
Mr Bennett now reading statement of Capital radio programmer Christopher Greenslade who confirmed Far East Movement G6 was played on Feb 5 Wed Feb 01 16:00:05 2012
PC Healan drove the routes between the house party in Corelli St & Broadmead Park #nikitta Wed Feb 01 15:58:20 2012
Mr Cass has now finished his evidence. Prosecution counsel Ieuan Bennett now reading statement of PC Leighton Healan #nikitta Wed Feb 01 15:57:01 2012
Jury back in their seats. Mr Kinch is continuing his cross-examination #nikitta Wed Feb 01 15:26:21 2012
Court rising for 10min break #nikitta Wed Feb 01 15:12:35 2012
Mr Kinch is going through CCTV stills with Mr Cass #nikitta Wed Feb 01 15:05:32 2012
Kinch: although I entirely accept you were watching from the screen, there was an element of preview while vehicles were positioned #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:59:46 2012
Cass: having positively identified the vehicle as a mk1 Ford Focus, we only needed Focus cars to test #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:57:00 2012
Cass: I was kept very insulated from the arrangements #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:55:54 2012
Cass: the police came to us after I had shared my findings & asked us to do a reconstruction #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:55:05 2012
Cass: during the reconstruction tried to replicate conditions but the reconstruction was in July when the CCTV was from February #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:46:07 2012
Kinch: all you can achieve with the reconstruction is to eliminate a vehicle or come 2 a position where you can't #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:35:10 2012
Kinch: is there any published literature dealing with acquired vehicle features. Cass: no #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:26:45 2012
Cass: always going to be trying to eliminate any vehicles used in reconstructions as 'elimination is the strongest evidence' #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:21:21 2012
Mr Cass admits footage from a lower camera showing the Old Green Roundabout could have been included it in analysis if provided #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:18:07 2012
Cass: have been to Newport several times now & now familiar with locations on the CCTV footage #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:10:44 2012
Mr Kinch is asking for footage from the Old Green Roundabout to be shown #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:08:35 2012
Cass: there is no set way of identifying vehicles. No established good practice, but we use our experience to minimise risks #nikitta Wed Feb 01 14:05:44 2012
Cass: interpreting vehicle features from poor quality CCTV is where he can assist the court #nikitta Wed Feb 01 13:58:09 2012
Christopher Kinch QC is starting his cross-examination #nikitta Wed Feb 01 13:53:10 2012
Mr Cass is back in the witness stand waiting to resume his evidence #nikitta Wed Feb 01 13:46:52 2012
Defence counsel Christopher Kinch QC will cross examine Mr Cass after lunch. Trial will resume at 1.45pm #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:45:00 2012
Maindee Police Station reconstruction - Mr Cass once again identified the seized vehicle #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:44:08 2012
Godfrey Morgan camera - Mr Cass again identified the seized vehicle from the 4 possibilities #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:42:21 2012
Cass: Prince Street camera could exclude all but one vehicle which I was told was the seized vehicle #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:41:27 2012
Mr Cass is going through each of the reconstructions highlighting matches to the jury #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:36:54 2012
One of the features matched between the seized car & the original CCTV was that one of the rear number plate lights was brighter #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:29:15 2012
Overlaying images allowed Mr Cass to view the differences between vehicles & exclude those not matching the original CCTV #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:25:26 2012
Cass: took images from reconstruction & overlaid them on original CCTV footage #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:23:23 2012
Flaws in Godfrey Morgan reconstruction as footage of one vehicle was not downloaded leaving only 4 for comparison #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:21:51 2012
Reconstruction was carried out at several locations including the Godfrey Morgan pub & Maindee Police Station #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:20:38 2012
Cass: had no knowledge of the vehicle configuration or the order the cars were being brought out #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:17:59 2012
During reconstruction Mr Cass was inside the building with the cameras & could only see the reconstruction via the cameras #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:17:45 2012
Cass: police were requested to get 2 dummy cars as well as the seized vehicle #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:15:56 2012
Reconstruction took place in July last year #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:15:01 2012
Cass: reconstruction was to 'test' the identification & see if features of the seized vehicle matched those on the CCTV #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:14:29 2012
Cass: informed investigation team of my initial findings & I was informed a mark 1 Focus had been seized by police #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:13:12 2012
Cass: looked at the original CCTV to see how the lights moved & vehicles were driven in both directions during reconstruction #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:09:49 2012
Mr Cass was also asked to say what directions vehicles were travelling in on the CCTV footage #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:07:44 2012
Cass: "This is a pre-facelift Ford Focus mark 1." #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:02:10 2012
Cass: "I'm certain these are the same vehicles due to the geography." Rear number plate has 1 bulb lighter than the other #nikitta Wed Feb 01 12:00:18 2012
Camera looks towards Church Road. Vehicle is light tone hatch back. ID was made from two cameras on the same building #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:58:29 2012
Consumables To Go camera on Prince Street is the next up. Footage from 5.01am on Feb 5. #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:54:04 2012
Vehicle seen on camera at 4.33am. Car again likely to be a pre-facelift mk 1 Ford Focus #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:51:16 2012
Maindee Police Station cameraooking into town. Vehicle travelling towards the camera would be coming out of the city centre #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:46:23 2012
Cass: "In my opinion this vehicle is a mark one Ford Focus" - manufactured between 1998 & 2004 #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:45:25 2012
Cass: vehicle seen is a light tone medium sized hatchback with dark rubbing strip down the side #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:41:40 2012
Next footage from the Godfrey Morgan pub on Chepstow Road at 6.16am looking away from city centre. Car heading towards city centre #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:40:22 2012
Cass: vehicle seen is a medium size light tone hatchback. Most likely to be a mk1 Focus but could be mk5 Fiesta #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:38:53 2012
Now looking at footage from Maindee Store from 6.18am on Feb 5 #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:35:23 2012
Cass: vehicle features mean the vehicle could only be mark 1 Focus in a light tone ##nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:34:04 2012
Cass: there was evidence that 1 of the lamps illuminating the number plate was brighter than the other #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:33:12 2012
Cass: Footage from the same camera later that morning shows a light coloured hatchback passing heading towards city centre #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:31:06 2012
Cass: decided it was not possible to ID a car from that footage alone but consistent with Ford Focus or Fiesta #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:28:02 2012
Footage from 5.08am on Feb 5. System is set to only cover movement. Light coloured vehicle seen passing the window #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:26:39 2012
Mr Cass is showing the jury footage & stills from the Peacocks camera which looks out on to Chepstow Road #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:24:16 2012
Jury going out for a short break while Mr Cass tries to find relevant CCTV footage #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:07:22 2012
Cass: given footage from inside Peacocks in Maindee. Looks out from inside the shop on to the road #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:04:23 2012
Mr Cass also asked to look at clips from Newport East Community Centre. Vehicle likely to be a Ford Fiesta or Focus #nikitta Wed Feb 01 11:00:22 2012
Cass: footage also shows another light tone vehicle leaving the roundabout. Light tone covers white, silver, light grey, light gold #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:59:05 2012
Cass: could not give a specific vehicle from Old Green CCTV could be a Ford Focus, Fiesta or Nissan Note #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:54:02 2012
Cass: looked at all the CCTV frames together & decided what features I could rely upon. Very rare to be able to give a specific car colour Wed Feb 01 10:52:01 2012
Cass: I was directed to look at a vehicle coming on to t roundabout from Clarence Place. Had no knowledge of Newport at the time #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:47:38 2012
Prosecutor Gregg Taylor QC pointing out roads & landmarks on t CCTV to the jury. Camera positioned on the Chartist Tower #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:46:03 2012
Cass: this camera footage used to monitor traffic flow more than identifying vehicles #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:42:17 2012
Jury members being shown from a camera above the Old Green Roundabout in Newport, which Mr Cass said, is poor quality #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:39:36 2012
CCTV included footage from Newport city centre, Moorland Park Community Centre, Maindee Police Station & other premises in Maindee #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:36:38 2012
Colleague Andrew Wooler gave Mr Cass CCTV from t police. He did not know what car t police were looking for #nikitta Wed Feb 01 10:34:55 2012

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