Pregnant teenager Nikitta Grender was found dead at her Lliswerry home after a fire in February last year.
Carl Whant, 27, of no fixed address, stands accused of the rape and murder of Miss Grender on February 5 last year. He is also accused of arson and child destruction. He denies all the charges.
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See tomorrow's @southwalesargus for @ArgusBFrampton's coverage from today
Wed Feb 01 17:40:55 2012
Case adjourned until 10.15 tomorrow #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 16:01:34 2012
Mr Bennett now reading statement of Capital radio programmer Christopher Greenslade who confirmed Far East Movement G6 was played on Feb 5
Wed Feb 01 16:00:05 2012
PC Healan drove the routes between the house party in Corelli St & Broadmead Park #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 15:58:20 2012
Mr Cass has now finished his evidence. Prosecution counsel Ieuan Bennett now reading statement of PC Leighton Healan #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 15:57:01 2012
Jury back in their seats. Mr Kinch is continuing his cross-examination #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 15:26:21 2012
Court rising for 10min break #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 15:12:35 2012
Mr Kinch is going through CCTV stills with Mr Cass #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 15:05:32 2012
Kinch: although I entirely accept you were watching from the screen, there was an element of preview while vehicles were positioned #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:59:46 2012
Cass: having positively identified the vehicle as a mk1 Ford Focus, we only needed Focus cars to test #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:57:00 2012
Cass: I was kept very insulated from the arrangements #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:55:54 2012
Cass: the police came to us after I had shared my findings & asked us to do a reconstruction #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:55:05 2012
Cass: during the reconstruction tried to replicate conditions but the reconstruction was in July when the CCTV was from February #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:46:07 2012
Kinch: all you can achieve with the reconstruction is to eliminate a vehicle or come 2 a position where you can't #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:35:10 2012
Kinch: is there any published literature dealing with acquired vehicle features. Cass: no #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:26:45 2012
Cass: always going to be trying to eliminate any vehicles used in reconstructions as 'elimination is the strongest evidence' #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:21:21 2012
Mr Cass admits footage from a lower camera showing the Old Green Roundabout could have been included it in analysis if provided #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:18:07 2012
Cass: have been to Newport several times now & now familiar with locations on the CCTV footage #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:10:44 2012
Mr Kinch is asking for footage from the Old Green Roundabout to be shown #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:08:35 2012
Cass: there is no set way of identifying vehicles. No established good practice, but we use our experience to minimise risks #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 14:05:44 2012
Cass: interpreting vehicle features from poor quality CCTV is where he can assist the court #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 13:58:09 2012
Christopher Kinch QC is starting his cross-examination #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 13:53:10 2012
Mr Cass is back in the witness stand waiting to resume his evidence #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 13:46:52 2012
Defence counsel Christopher Kinch QC will cross examine Mr Cass after lunch. Trial will resume at 1.45pm #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:45:00 2012
Maindee Police Station reconstruction - Mr Cass once again identified the seized vehicle #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:44:08 2012
Godfrey Morgan camera - Mr Cass again identified the seized vehicle from the 4 possibilities #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:42:21 2012
Cass: Prince Street camera could exclude all but one vehicle which I was told was the seized vehicle #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:41:27 2012
Mr Cass is going through each of the reconstructions highlighting matches to the jury #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:36:54 2012
One of the features matched between the seized car & the original CCTV was that one of the rear number plate lights was brighter #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:29:15 2012
Overlaying images allowed Mr Cass to view the differences between vehicles & exclude those not matching the original CCTV #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:25:26 2012
Cass: took images from reconstruction & overlaid them on original CCTV footage #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:23:23 2012
Flaws in Godfrey Morgan reconstruction as footage of one vehicle was not downloaded leaving only 4 for comparison #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:21:51 2012
Reconstruction was carried out at several locations including the Godfrey Morgan pub & Maindee Police Station #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:20:38 2012
Cass: had no knowledge of the vehicle configuration or the order the cars were being brought out #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:17:59 2012
During reconstruction Mr Cass was inside the building with the cameras & could only see the reconstruction via the cameras #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:17:45 2012
Cass: police were requested to get 2 dummy cars as well as the seized vehicle #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:15:56 2012
Reconstruction took place in July last year #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:15:01 2012
Cass: reconstruction was to 'test' the identification & see if features of the seized vehicle matched those on the CCTV #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:14:29 2012
Cass: informed investigation team of my initial findings & I was informed a mark 1 Focus had been seized by police #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:13:12 2012
Cass: looked at the original CCTV to see how the lights moved & vehicles were driven in both directions during reconstruction #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:09:49 2012
Mr Cass was also asked to say what directions vehicles were travelling in on the CCTV footage #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:07:44 2012
Cass: "This is a pre-facelift Ford Focus mark 1." #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:02:10 2012
Cass: "I'm certain these are the same vehicles due to the geography." Rear number plate has 1 bulb lighter than the other #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 12:00:18 2012
Camera looks towards Church Road. Vehicle is light tone hatch back. ID was made from two cameras on the same building #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:58:29 2012
Consumables To Go camera on Prince Street is the next up. Footage from 5.01am on Feb 5. #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:54:04 2012
Vehicle seen on camera at 4.33am. Car again likely to be a pre-facelift mk 1 Ford Focus #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:51:16 2012
Maindee Police Station cameraooking into town. Vehicle travelling towards the camera would be coming out of the city centre #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:46:23 2012
Cass: "In my opinion this vehicle is a mark one Ford Focus" - manufactured between 1998 & 2004 #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:45:25 2012
Cass: vehicle seen is a light tone medium sized hatchback with dark rubbing strip down the side #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:41:40 2012
Next footage from the Godfrey Morgan pub on Chepstow Road at 6.16am looking away from city centre. Car heading towards city centre #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:40:22 2012
Cass: vehicle seen is a medium size light tone hatchback. Most likely to be a mk1 Focus but could be mk5 Fiesta #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:38:53 2012
Now looking at footage from Maindee Store from 6.18am on Feb 5 #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:35:23 2012
Cass: vehicle features mean the vehicle could only be mark 1 Focus in a light tone ##nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:34:04 2012
Cass: there was evidence that 1 of the lamps illuminating the number plate was brighter than the other #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:33:12 2012
Cass: Footage from the same camera later that morning shows a light coloured hatchback passing heading towards city centre #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:31:06 2012
Cass: decided it was not possible to ID a car from that footage alone but consistent with Ford Focus or Fiesta #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:28:02 2012
Footage from 5.08am on Feb 5. System is set to only cover movement. Light coloured vehicle seen passing the window #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:26:39 2012
Mr Cass is showing the jury footage & stills from the Peacocks camera which looks out on to Chepstow Road #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:24:16 2012
Jury going out for a short break while Mr Cass tries to find relevant CCTV footage #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:07:22 2012
Cass: given footage from inside Peacocks in Maindee. Looks out from inside the shop on to the road #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:04:23 2012
Mr Cass also asked to look at clips from Newport East Community Centre. Vehicle likely to be a Ford Fiesta or Focus #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 11:00:22 2012
Cass: footage also shows another light tone vehicle leaving the roundabout. Light tone covers white, silver, light grey, light gold #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:59:05 2012
Cass: could not give a specific vehicle from Old Green CCTV could be a Ford Focus, Fiesta or Nissan Note #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:54:02 2012
Cass: looked at all the CCTV frames together & decided what features I could rely upon. Very rare to be able to give a specific car colour
Wed Feb 01 10:52:01 2012
Cass: I was directed to look at a vehicle coming on to t roundabout from Clarence Place. Had no knowledge of Newport at the time #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:47:38 2012
Prosecutor Gregg Taylor QC pointing out roads & landmarks on t CCTV to the jury. Camera positioned on the Chartist Tower #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:46:03 2012
Cass: this camera footage used to monitor traffic flow more than identifying vehicles #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:42:17 2012
Jury members being shown from a camera above the Old Green Roundabout in Newport, which Mr Cass said, is poor quality #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:39:36 2012
CCTV included footage from Newport city centre, Moorland Park Community Centre, Maindee Police Station & other premises in Maindee #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:36:38 2012
Colleague Andrew Wooler gave Mr Cass CCTV from t police. He did not know what car t police were looking for #nikitta
Wed Feb 01 10:34:55 2012
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