Deceased/Not Found UK - April Jones, 5, Machynlleth, Wales, 1 Oct 2012 #3 *M. Bridger guilty*

[Agatha Krispy]

I should imagine a cottage like that is about £400 pm minimum. He probably has been able to work odd jobs as cash in hand, whilst retaining benefit. I shouldn't imagine the DSS would want to provide him with a three bed home though, not for just one person. It begs the question...

 

[Amber34]

Opalsqueak:Here's a serious question: How on earth is a man, in and out of low paid manual labour, with periods of unemployment in between, a brood of young children to financially support, afford to rent a house like that all to himself, run Landrover Disco, and drink all that beer?

I would really like to know. Where was his money coming from?

YOU AND ME BOTH

Well....... If he is entitled to housing benefit he would be able to get the council to pay his rent. From then on he would get around £71 a week Job Seekers Allowance (JSA).

This is a rural and friendly community - people help one another out. There are bound to have been a few cash in hand jobs here or there - even as a labourer he would maybe get £60 a day. A couple of days of that a week and he won't be so badly off.

His motor is old and he could have owned it for years, or even if bought recently, it wouldn't be that dear to buy. Left hand drive tend to be fairly cheap, although dearer to insure, but if he has good no claims and a clean licence then that wouldn't amount of more than perhaps £300 a year insurance. He's a mechanic, he can do the maintenance himself. Although it likely drinks fuel, he probably doesn't go too far on a day to day basis, living in a fairly insular community.

I don't believe child maintenance payments have to be made while in receipt of JSA. If they are, it would be an almost peppercorn amount.

The huge collection of beer cans - who's to know when they were last collected? To get these picked up they have to be put out - I've been known to kick myself when I've missed a collection. They could be a few weeks or a few months accumulation.

 

[cluciano63]

Are we sure he was not house-sitting or caretaking that house?

 

[Amber34]

Are we sure he was not house-sitting or caretaking that house?

A similar thought had occurred to me - he may be 'loaned' the property. We have rentals and have been known to let friends (including single blokes who have recently split up) stay in one we are in the midst of renovating, or more often, not got around to make it rentable yet.

 

[opalsqueak63]

Well....... If he is entitled to housing benefit he would be able to get the council to pay his rent. From then on he would get around £71 a week Job Seekers Allowance (JSA).

This is a rural and friendly community - people help one another out. There are bound to have been a few cash in hand jobs here or there - even as a labourer he would maybe get £60 a day. A couple of days of that a week and he won't be so badly off.

His motor is old and he could have owned it for years, or even if bought recently, it wouldn't be that dear to buy. Left hand drive tend to be fairly cheap, although dearer to insure, but if he has good no claims and a clean licence then that wouldn't amount of more than perhaps £300 a year insurance. He's a mechanic, he can do the maintenance himself. Although it likely drinks fuel, he probably doesn't go too far on a day to day basis, living in a fairly insular community.

I don't believe child maintenance payments have to be made while in receipt of JSA. If they are, it would be an almost peppercorn amount.

The huge collection of beer cans - who's to know when they were last collected? To get these picked up they have to be put out - I've been known to kick myself when I've missed a collection. They could be a few weeks or a few months accumulation.

Interesting points. I reckon the rent would be £500 minimum. I pay £650 for similar in a low-wage rural area in Weardale, England. As a single man, the council would not cover all his rent - they would pay local housing allowance for a one bedroom place only - the current rate I believe is around £64 a weekf or that area. The rest he would have to find himself from his benefits. I won't go into it more here re benefits, work etc, but I do know how it works. As for cash in hand - does any one do that any more when someone is signing unemployed? very risky.

All will be revealed in the fullness of time.
I think they have their man, jmo

 

[Amber34]

Mine shafts don't give up their dead easily.

I live in an area with an abundance of closed mines and thus scores of mine shafts, some capped, some not so capped. The Kansas City mafia were said to use this resource to dispose of their late victims.

Also, in the last 20 years, searches have been made for a missing club dancer and two missing teenagers. In spite of, in the first instance especially, detailed tips, nothing has ever been found.

Here's the Telegraph link about the quarry again, it's toward the bottom.

This website is really interesting - shows all the old mines and quarries in the region. You have to click both SN and SH grid on the mine browser map to cover the Machynlleth region. Click on the little red dots for more info and some great photos too.

http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/map_show_sheet.asp?sheet=SN

There is also this one, specifically at Corris http://www.corrismineexplorers.co.uk/

 

[kkdj]

A similar thought had occurred to me - he may be 'loaned' the property. We have rentals and have been known to let friends (including single blokes who have recently split up) stay in one we are in the midst of renovating, or more often, not got around to make it rentable yet.

Does anyone know if this was thIs was the case?

 

[wfgodot]

Does anyone know if this was thIs was the case?

Telegraph refers to it as "his rented cottage":

Police searching his rented cottage lifted paving slabs and manhole covers in their hunt for clues yesterday, and a guesthouse nearby where he worked as an odd-job man was also searched.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ours-to-quiz-Mark-Bridger-over-abduction.html

 

[kkdj]

Bottom line my friends.
Eyewitness says she entered his truck.
He is charged with kidnapping and murder, obstruction of justice.
She has not been located.
This is their case. We want to know their evidence to support the charges! And then pony up!

 

[opalsqueak63]

Aren't these specialist dogs marvellous: The police now have acquired the services of "Isla", a border collie who her owner says "is able to track "human air scent" from a dead or alive person from a quarter of a mile away. "She's outstanding at picking up a trail of skin cells."

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/06/april-jones-mark-bridger-murder

 

[Dr. Know?]

Maybe Sarx or Oriah could help (others too). They do SAR and know a lot about dogs. I haven't really read about any cadaver dogs specifically but did read about Isla. Dogs are amazing.

 

[Suzy-sue]

What do we know for definite regarding actual 'evidence' that Mark Bridger (MB) is correct person? I haven't seen anything that is definite other than he knew poor April.

Does anyone know Machynlleth or Ceinws well? <modsnip>. I can't bear to think of what she's been through (even if she's alive and unharmed) and her poor family must be going through sheer hell......God bless them all xx

I did read that April had been in MB's car two days earlier - was that part of his plan to ensure her DNA would be already in the car? and why did his car need repairing as that's where his car was the next day at the garage for repairs? have they checked his car tyres and shoes for different types of soils/land etc he driven or walked on? i also wondered what the Forensic Psychiatrist discovered when he interviewed him?

I so wish these dreadful incidents never happened and there weren't such evil people around.....

Sue xx

 

[wfgodot]

Well, we do know that

Iwan Jenkins, the district crown prosecutor from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in Wales, said: "I now have to advise that, having carried out a detailed review of the evidence gathered so far by Dyfed-Powys police, my conclusion is that there is sufficient evidence to charge Mark Bridger with the murder of April Jones, and that it is in the public interest to do so.

"I have also concluded that there is sufficient evidence to charge the defendant with attempting to pervert the course of justice and child abduction."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/06/mark-bridger-charged-april-murder

I would think this decision was not taken lightly.

 

[marlywings]

Please keep in mind WS doesn't allow discussions about psychics/dreams/tarot cards etc.

 

[Clio]

From previous thread

Amber32 posted

Actually, the police did not officially name their suspect until 4 or 5 days into the investigation.

MB was arrested at 3:30pm on Tuesday 2nd October and by later that day, the press had named him which is not at all unusual.

Next morning at the 10:30am press conference LE confirmed that it ws MB in custody and issued a photo of him and his vehicle.

This is highly unusual - LE only name suspects after they have been charged.

 

[Carpe Pacem]

There was a case in the desert of San Diego, a lot of caves & shafts. Can't remember the name of the thread of the poor student that fell into one & was only discovered when a very long cable with a camera attached was lowered down and spotted him buried up to the waist in debri.

The trapped Chilean miners were 2000 feet underground - cameras saw them too. So it's possible to at see if she's there & then proceed to bring her to the surface.

Yes, it was a sand cave in the San Diego backcountry, where the student and his entire family were exploring. Wasn't it after teams of experienced cave searchers failed to find him that a private investigator put down the camera?

Tragic.

 

[Clio]

Vast security operation as April Jones murder suspect Mark Bridger appears in court today

A small mid Wales police force will mount one of its largest ever security operations today when a former abattoir worker appears in court charged with the murder of five-year-old April Jones.
....
Up to 30 police officers are expected to guard the court when Mr Bridger arrives at the 10am hearing from Aberystwyth police station, where he has been held since his arrest last Tuesday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...pect-Mark-Bridger-appears-in-court-today.html

No videolink then

 

[veggiefan]

Vast security operation as April Jones murder suspect Mark Bridger appears in court today

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...pect-Mark-Bridger-appears-in-court-today.html

No videolink then

There's hardly ever a video link for a first appearance at a magistrate's court. As the offence is indictable, the hearing will only last a minute or two before the case is passed to the Crown Court.

 

[UKgirl]

Opalsqueak:Here's a serious question: How on earth is a man, in and out of low paid manual labour, with periods of unemployment in between, a brood of young children to financially support, afford to rent a house like that all to himself, run Landrover Disco, and drink all that beer?

I would really like to know. Where was his money coming from?

YOU AND ME BOTH

Cash in hand jobs maybe, I think I read that he was a jack of all trades. Makes sense to do a few building jobs here and there.

L reg land rover discovery around £2,000 its the tax and petrol that would be crazy.

 

[Clio]

There's hardly ever a video link for a first appearance at a magistrate's court. As the offence is indictable, the hearing will only last a minute or two before the case is passed to the Crown Court.

Yes I know not much will happen. He'll confirm his name and address and that will be it and as you say he'll appear at a Crown Court in a day or two.

In the Tia Sharp case, Stuart Hazell appeared from a police station via video link for his Magistrates hearing. I think it will probably become more common as and when technology allows. Costs less and avoids the need for lots of security in case of angry public crowds.