Now tell us where Jenny's hidden (From The Northern Echo)

Now tell us where Jenny's hidden

2:01am Wednesday 20th February 2008 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

THE parents of murdered teenager Jenny Nicholl last night called on the man who killed her to tell them where her body was hidden so they could give their beloved daughter a proper funeral.

Married father-of-two David Hodgson, 48, was found guilty of murder yesterday after a trial at Teesside Crown Court lasting more than five weeks.

He will receive a mandatory life sentence when he returns to court this morning to be sentenced by trial judge Mr Justice Openshaw, who will set a minimum tariff.

Last night, Jenny's mother and father, Ann and Brian, stood side-by-side outside the court as he read a statement in which they called for Hodgson, an unemployed landscape gardener, to finally confess.

Mr Nicholl accused Hodgson of peddling "ludicrous and vile accusations" during his defence, and of "unjustly" blackening the name of their daughter.

The retired Army major said that while the family was relieved by the verdict - delivered after the jury deliberated for ten hours over two days - they would not celebrate.

He said: "It remains our deepest wish that, as parents, we be afforded our basic human right to bury Jenny with the dignity and respect she so rightly deserves. While this verdict is a step forward, we will never stop searching for Jenny's body, and David Hodgson should now accept that he alone is responsible and inform the police where she is."

Shopworker Jenny, 19, went missing after leaving her family home, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, on June 30, 2005, after telling her mother she was staying out for the night.

The teenager's sudden disappearance was treated as a missing person inquiry for months before detectives suspected Hodgson was lying about his relationship with her.

Hodgson was originally arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, but was later charged with murder after more evidence was found.

Police discovered that text messages had been sent from Jenny's mobile phone to her friends and her father from the Scottish Borders on days when Hodgson hired cars.

They also found some of the teenager's belongings on a tip in a plantation where they believed they could prove Jenny and Hodgson had spent nights together camping.

The hillside areas overlooking Richmond were well-known to Hodgson and his older brother, Robert, and they erected had man-made hides and huts there.

The prosecution claimed Hodgson was an intensely jealous man who was angry about Jenny's blossoming relationship with his brother in the months before her disappearance.

It is suspected that he killed her - possibly after a row - on the evening she went missing, but police were never able to pinpoint a crime scene despite a huge investigation.

Numerous searches were carried out in the hills and fields above Richmond, but other than some of Jenny's personal belongings, no trace of her has been found.

Four people told the jury that they had seen the teenager after she vanished, but prosecutor James Goss said they were either mistaken about the dates or who they had spotted.

North Yorkshire Police welcomed the verdict last night, and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) described the lengthy inquiry as "a very difficult case".

Chief Superintendent Sue Cross said: "Throughout the investigation and now the trial, Hodgson has failed to accept responsibility for his actions and has deprived Jenny's family of any sort of explanation for her death or where he disposed of her body.

"He's tried to lie and bluff his way out of trouble and possibly even

convinced himself that he was innocent, but he has been found guilty of Jenny's murder by the jury and he will have a life-time to live with the consequences of his actions.

"I only hope he will now have the decency to reveal where Jenny's body is so her parents Brian and Ann can finally allow their daughter to rest in peace.

"Although murder cases where there is no body and no actual crime scene are very rare, both North Yorkshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service firmly believed we had put a thorough and detailed case before the jury which provided a realistic prospect of conviction."

At the height of the two-and-a-half-year inquiry, more than 50 officers worked on the case, including detectives, Crime Scene Investigators,

specialist searchers and community police teams.

More than 6,500 documents were generated, more than 2,700 people were spoken to, and almost 1,500 statements taken while searches covering 7,800 hectares were carried out in and around the Richmond and Catterick area.

Hodgson, of Olav Road, Richmond, denied murder and instead claimed that Jenny's father was abusive towards her and that she had run away from home to escape.

He also claimed that he had been in touch with her since she vanished.

Hodgson showed no emotion when the jury of six men and six women returned its unanimous verdict yesterday afternoon, while there were clear signs of relief from the public gallery.

Mr and Mrs Nicholl clasped hands when the verdict was read out. She could then be heard quietly weeping while her husband twice sighed heavily with relief.