Trial told of ‘no comment’ replies

ATEENAGE boy accused of raping and attempting to murder a 10-year-old girl in Devon replied “no comment” when asked by police about the attack.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of grabbing the girl as she walked home from school in Exmouth, on October 4.

Bristol Crown Court heard the girl noticed footsteps running behind her before she was dragged down a bank and into a stream.

A jury of nine women and three men have been told the boy, who was 16 at the time of the incident, admits choking the girl and sexually assaulting her.

He denies raping the girl while she was unconscious and leaving her to die in the water.

Detective Constable Joanne Rotchell, of Devon and Cornwall Police, told the court that two interviews were conducted with the boy following his arrest.

In the first, he gave background information about his life before denying that he knew the 10-yearold or her family.

When asked about the route he was cycling at the time of the attack, he replied: “No comment.”

Jurors previously heard the boy’s family noticed he was sweating after he returned home and he was asked why that was.

He told officers it was because he had been cycling up a “steep hill” and described the clothing he had been wearing at the time.

The boy said he had changed his clothing after returning home, ate dinner and spoke to friends online before watching TV.

In the second interview, the boy again answered “no comment” when asked about the route he had cycled.

He confirmed a number of CCTV images of a boy cycling in Exmouth shortly before the incident were of him. When asked where he was when the girl was attacked, about her injuries and what happened to her, he replied: “No comment.”

Jurors previously heard how passers-by went to help the girl after hearing her yelling from the stream. She told them “he strangled me, he strangled me, he strangled me.”

The trial is due to last two weeks.