A POLICEMAN has told how he retraced an alleged journey taken by the man accused of killing North Yorkshire shopworker Jenny Nicholl.

PC Michael Hancock told Teesside Crown Court yesterday that he drove from Richmond to Brampton, in Cumbria, and back in three hours and 20 minutes.

He said the route he took was 169 miles.

The prosecution alleges that David Hodgson sent text messages from the Brampton area to Jenny's friends, Jennifer Whelan and Nicola Gosnold.

They say the texts - sent on July 9, 2005, ten days after she went missing - were a bid to convince her family and the police that she was alive and well.

The court has heard how Mr Hodgson hired a car from ETS Garage, in Richmond, for three days on July 8.

During this period, the vehicle clocked up 297 miles.

James Goss QC, prosecuting, claims no one can account for Mr Hodgson's movements for the period the texts were sent.

He could easily have driven to Cumbria and sent the texts, the prosecution claims.

Mr Hodgson, 47, of Olav Road, Richmond, denies murdering Jenny on or around June 30, 2005.

The trial continues.