Jenny Nicholl Murder Trial
The trial of David Hodgson, who is accused of killing teenager Jenny Nicholl. David Hodgson, 47, of Olav Road, Richmond, denies murdering the 19-year-old in June 2005.
VIDEO
* Detective Superintendent Sue Cross speaks outside court
* Brian and Ann Nicholl speak outside court
* Reporter Joe Willis looks back over the investigation.
CASE CLOSED
Snared by texts meant to throw police off scent
 |
| Sue Cross |
PIONEERING analysis of text
message writing style helped
snare Jenny Nicholl's killer.
Detectives said yesterday
that text messages sent from
Jenny's mobile phone after
she vanished formed a crucial
part of the lengthy police investigation
into her disappearance.
Detective Superintendent
Sue Cross, the investigation
leader, said the linguistic evidence
- used for the first time
in a murder trial in the region
- had been crucial.
She said: "This is a new type
of linguistic analysis that's
taking place, looking at text
messages and how they can be
used, because everyone has
their own individual style.
Police were still treating the
case as a missing-from-home
inquiry when contact was
made with friends Jennifer
Whelan and Nicola Gosnold,
nine days after Jenny was last
seen.
Five days later, two texts
were sent to the teenager's father,
Brian, from the Scottish
Borders, which said: "I aint
coming back and the pigs
won't find me. I'm happy living
up here."
The messages to Mr Nicholl
also included: "Why do you
hate me. I know mum does.
Told her I was going text you
couple of weeks. Tell pigs I'm
nearly 20. Aint coming back.
They can shite of."
Jenny never texted again.
Her mobile phone was
switched on and immediately
off after the messages were
sent, and has never been used
since or found.
The prosecution claimed the
messages were sent by Hodgson,
and supported their theory
by showing he had hired
cars on each of the days the
texts were received.
It was claimed he had driven
to Brampton, in Cumbria, to
send the first series of messages
to Jenny's friends on
July 9, and travelled to Jedburgh
on July 14 to contact his
lover's father.
Language expert Malcolm
Coulthard was called in by
North Yorkshire Police to examine
abbreviations, spellings
and the use of certain
words in what were called the
"suspect" texts.
Mr Coulthard told the murder
trial jury that the messages
could have been written
by Hodgson in an attempt to
convince police and Jenny's
family that she was alive.
Mr Coulthard compared the
language to that used in texts
sent by Jenny to friends before
her disappearance and those
recovered from Hodgson's mobile.
He told the court there were
many matches between Hodgson's
style and the messages
sent from Jenny's phone - and
"significant differences" between
Jenny's usual language
and the "suspect" texts.
Mr Coulthard said that
Hodgson was one of a number
of possible authors, but some
of the unusual shared characteristics
between his style and
the July texts meant the number
of suspects was reduced.
Jenny's mother, Ann, also
told the court that words and
phrases such as "pigs" and
"shite of" were not those usually
used by her daughter.
Police were so confident the
messages were hoaxes designed
to divert the inquiry
that they made Hodgson carry
out several writing exercises
during one of his interviews.
They also looked at the suicide
note he left his wife, Alison,
after his arrest for perverting
the course of justice,
and texts he had sent before
his questioning.
Mr Coulthard told the jury
of six men and six women that
Hodgson did not use abbreviations
in the tests, but his historic
messages contained
words such as "aint".
The mis-spelling of the word
"off" with a single "f" also featured
in the suicide note and
the texts which were sent from
Jenny's phone.
Det Supt Cross, added: "We
never believed those texts had
been sent by Jenny Nicholl,
and that evidence was put
very fairly before the jury and
clearly they believed the same
thing."
10:28am Thursday 21st February 2008
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