THE brother of the man accused of killing Jenny Nicholl told how he attempted suicide after he was blamed for the teenager's disappearance.

Robert Hodgson said he took a cocktail of alcohol and painkillers ten days after the 19-year-old was last seen by her family.

Mr Hodgson, 49, older brother of David Hodgson, appeared at Teesside Crown Court yesterday as a prosecution witness on day seven of his brother's trial.

He told the jury how people in Richmond began suspecting him in the week after Jenny went missing.

He said: "I was getting called all sorts of things in the town.

"I was supposed to be the last person to see her. Someone said I was supposed to have murdered her."

Mr Hodgson told how his brother, the defendant, gave him a lift to a wood at Thorpe-under-Stone, near Downholme, Richmond.

He said: "I went up there with some drink and some tablets. I had some funny things in my head."

The court heard how he then called a detective involved in the investigation to find Jenny.

The witness said: "I was telling him I had nothing to do with Jenny's disappearance."

He was later found and went on to make a full recovery.

The prosecution alleges that Robert Hodgson's blossoming relationship with Jenny is a possible reason why the defendant murdered the teenager.

However, the witness, a groundworker with Randall Orchard Construction, in Richmond, denied he had ever had sex with the missing teenager, adding that the pair were just friends.

He said he met Jenny about four or five months before she went missing.

He told the court she had visited his flat, in Culloden View, Richmond, about eight times, staying the night on the sofa on six occasions.

He confirmed he had gone camping with Jenny and her friend, Jacqueline Whelan, the weekend before Jenny's disappearance.

He said he and the two girls had shared a Chinese takeaway at his flat several days later.

The court heard that the meal took place on June 29, 2005.

Under cross-examination, Jamie Hill QC suggested Mr Hodgson had gone drinking with Jenny a day later on June 30 - the night she was last seen by her mother.

Mr Hill said there were also possible sightings of the pair in the Cobblestones Cafe and the Comrades Club, in Richmond, on July 1.

However, Mr Hodgson said he could not remember seeing Jenny after she left his flat on the morning after the Chinese meal.

The witness was questioned about phone records showing he had called Jenny's phone from his mobile on July 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Mr Hodgson denied knowing that his brother was having a relationship with Jenny until details emerged in the media.

He said he thought his brother had been aware he and Jenny went drinking together.

David Hodgson, 47, of Olav Road, Richmond, North Yorkshire, denies murdering Jenny on June 30, 2005.

The trial continues.