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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RT @ArgusAChalk: See tomorrow's @southwalesargus for coverage of the rest of Mr Justice John Griffith Williams' summing up in the #nikit ...
Tue Feb 21 18:28:51 +0000 2012
@SDeeLa can't say, the jury have no time limit
Tue Feb 21 18:22:37 +0000 2012
@welshladd hi mick they go home
Tue Feb 21 18:22:04 +0000 2012
Judge: we will adjourn until 10.15am tomorrow #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 16:09:22 +0000 2012
Judge: I remind you it is absolutely imperative that you don't talk to anyone outside your number about the case #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 16:08:52 +0000 2012
Judge: because you are going to separate you must stop your deliberations completely #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 16:08:15 +0000 2012
Judge: we're going to rise now for today and we will resume tomorrow morning at 10.15am #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 16:07:20 +0000 2012
Jury in #nikitta trial are about to be brought back into court by the judge
Tue Feb 21 16:04:53 +0000 2012
For all those asking, the court will give notice when the jury has reached its verdict & everyone will be brought back into court #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 12:52:26 +0000 2012
Jury have retired to start their deliberations #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:52:01 +0000 2012
Judge: when you retire strive to reach verdicts on which you all agree #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:51:11 +0000 2012
Judge: deliberations are not a memory test #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:48:33 +0000 2012
Judge: if you have any questions come back to me. I'm here to give you any further help I can #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:48:14 +0000 2012
Judge: that completes my summing up. You will shortly retire. There is no issue of time for you #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:47:47 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant suggested the blood on his jacket might have been transferred but could not say how #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:47:10 +0000 2012
Judge: he took police officers on the route he took to nan's house and agreed he told police he was concerned about fire timing #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:46:26 +0000 2012
Judge: Everything Whant had been wearing that night was put out to be washed #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:45:15 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant estimated he was away for around 30 mins #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:44:20 +0000 2012
Judge: he said he left at 5am, there was no answer at nan's house. Said he returned to Corelli Street but can't remember route #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:43:07 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said the group stopped at a petrol station before going to Corelli Street. He left to go to nan's for cigarettes #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:40:57 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant agreed that the scuffle he claims to have had with an Asian man at The Greyhound was not caught on CCTV #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:39:20 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said in retrospect, it was not a sensible thing to do #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:37:35 +0000 2012
Judge: he said he lied about it in police interviews because he didn't want to embarrass himself, Ryan or his girlfriend #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:36:55 +0000 2012
Judge: he said that afterwards he wished it hadn't happened because he had a girlfriend #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:36:15 +0000 2012
Judge: asked why he hadn't mentioned it before December, Whant said he had "other things on his mind" #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:35:36 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant denied he had made the whole thing up #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:35:23 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said they had sex but couldn't explain how or why it happened. He said #nikitta seemed willing
Tue Feb 21 11:34:29 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant later told police Ryan asked him if he wanted to have sex with #nikitta on Feb 4
Tue Feb 21 11:33:43 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said sometimes #nikitta wouldn't let him in the flat because se thought he was a bd influence on Ryan
Tue Feb 21 11:32:51 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said apart from the incident in the bus stop he and #nikitta hadn't been alone together
Tue Feb 21 11:32:10 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant denied having an obsession with #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:31:01 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant and Ryan Mayes are cousins and were close #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:30:41 +0000 2012
Judge: he remained silent when asked to account for his semen in #nikitta's body and when asked if they had consensual sex
Tue Feb 21 11:29:15 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant gave no answers when asked if he had raped and stabbed #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:28:25 +0000 2012
Judge: when asked to explained why blood with DNA matching #nikitta's was in his car he remained silent
Tue Feb 21 11:27:48 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant was asked about a lighter found in #nikitta's flat
Tue Feb 21 11:27:09 +0000 2012
Judge: he said he was stressed out and his "head was fried" #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:26:19 +0000 2012
Judge: in his last interview Whant said he did not feel well enough to answer any more questions #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:25:44 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said he was in a loving relationship with Rachel Bird and he was truthful person #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:24:53 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said he had never visited #nikitta without Ryan and they had not been alone together
Tue Feb 21 11:23:53 +0000 2012
Judge: you must not draw any adverse inference on Whant's no comment statements #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:22:26 +0000 2012
Judge: injuries were photographed. Whant was interviewed 26 times in total #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:21:17 +0000 2012
Judge: the doctor said she could not comment on how the wounds were caused #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:20:34 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant was examined by a doctor when he was arrested. Noticed bruising near his elbow, four red scab wounds and scratch mark #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:19:52 +0000 2012
Judge: police did not retrieve footage from Queens Hill garage #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:17:30 +0000 2012
Judge: my advice to you is that those cars could have been any of the very many ford focuses in use on the roads #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:16:23 +0000 2012
Judge: two vehicles which could have been ford focuses were seen on the Old Green roundabout around 5am #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:15:07 +0000 2012
Judge: the journey from Corelli Street to Broadmead Park took 7 mins in reconstruction #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:08:48 +0000 2012
Judge: expert identified a pre face lift light ford focus. He matched Whant's car in original CCTV and that in the reconstruction #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:07:21 +0000 2012
Judge: images from a number of premises on Chepstow Road were analysed #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:03:26 +0000 2012
Judge: expert accepted there was room for error and agrees the quality of CCTV images can make a difference to results #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:02:18 +0000 2012
Judge: a reconstruction of CCTV coverage captured on Feb 5 was carried out to see if expert could identify suspect car from others #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 11:01:23 +0000 2012
Judge: they look for distinguishing features when trying to identify a suspect vehicle #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:59:10 +0000 2012
Judge: CCTV experts carried out blind analysis first without knowing what car they were looking for #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:58:39 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said he was racking his brains to think if any CCTV would verify his route to his nan's house #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:56:33 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant told police he was worried the time of the fire appeared to have changed from 8am to 5.30am #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:55:43 +0000 2012
Judge: police visited 250 premises and looked at 300 CCTV disks from Feb 4/5 #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:55:13 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant told police blood may be found in his car from when he got blood on him when he was a doorman #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:54:11 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant told police he didn't remember which way he drove back from his nan's house. Said he forgets things when taking drugs #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:52:54 +0000 2012
Judge: the issue for you is whether he heard it while driving to Broadmead Park or his nan's house #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:51:40 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant remembers hearing the song G6 on the radio at 5.16 am on Feb 5 #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:50:58 +0000 2012
Judge: he said the pair didn't have a conversation, just said hi when he saw #nikitta at her flat with Ryan on feb 4
Tue Feb 21 10:49:58 +0000 2012
Judge: in his 17th interview under caution Whant agreed that he had said #nikitta was the first person he thought of when he wanted sex
Tue Feb 21 10:49:03 +0000 2012
Judge: he then told police he hoped to have sex with #nikitta when the pair met at a bus stop 18 months earlier
Tue Feb 21 10:48:02 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant described #nikitta as a mostly happy person who was feisty.
Tue Feb 21 10:46:56 +0000 2012
Judge: on Feb 7 police collected Whant's shoes and shirt and he went with police to make a longer statement #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:46:23 +0000 2012
Judge: the officer said they were simply an aid memoir for him #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:45:19 +0000 2012
Judge: the accuracy of the notes taken by the police officer at that time were challenged by defence counsel #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:44:43 +0000 2012
Judge: asked if he had had a relationship with #nikitta Whant said no but he had wanted to
Tue Feb 21 10:43:50 +0000 2012
Judge: later Whant gave police his mobile phone #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:42:41 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant told police of his movements the previous night, telling them he was away from Corelli Street for 15 mins #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:42:02 +0000 2012
Judge: there was nothing unusual about his being or his clothing #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:41:01 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant gave a witness statement on Feb 5 after Ryan was arrested on suspicion of arson #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:40:19 +0000 2012
Judge: when Rachel washed Whant's shirt she noticed a small red/orange mark #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:39:43 +0000 2012
Judge: she thought the marks looked like nail marks. Whant said they were cause by a women who stopped him fighting on Feb 4 #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:38:47 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant met up with his girlfriend Rachel Bird the next day. They talked about #nikitta's death. She later noticed marks on his arms
Tue Feb 21 10:37:53 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant's nan Sandra Mole was woken by him around 7.45am on Feb 5. He took some cigarettes. She said he called regularly #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:36:56 +0000 2012
Judge: if you are to agree with her you are to take a dim view of Ryan Mayes. You must decide if these are credible witnesses #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:35:44 +0000 2012
Judge: Liz Taylor said she thought Ryan was interested in her and said he did not speak of #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:34:08 +0000 2012
Judge: Liz Taylor said Whant returned before she phoned a friend around 6.30am #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:33:08 +0000 2012
Judge: the pair rang Rachel Bird to find out where Whant was. She told them he wasn't there #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:32:10 +0000 2012
Judge: she and Ryan asked if they could go with him, he said no. Whant left his phone with Ryan #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:31:36 +0000 2012
Judge: she said she was talking to Ryan about her boyfriend. She ordered drugs which were delivered. Whant left for cigarettes #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:30:48 +0000 2012
Judge: Elizabeth Taylor was 16 at the time. She said she drank vodka and took cocaine but said she was "very aware" that night #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:29:51 +0000 2012
Judge: they left the house around 7.30am and Ryan and Daniel Matthews noticed Whant's car was parked facing a different way #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:28:38 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant returned without cigarettes and went to sleep on the sofa #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:27:19 +0000 2012
Judge: Ryan Mayes said the journey would take around 20 mins but after Whant didn't return after 30-40 mins he phoned Rachel Bird #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:26:53 +0000 2012
Judge: Whant said he was going to nan's house to get cigarettes #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:26:00 +0000 2012
Judge: there are issues as to who went to which rooms in Corelli Street and what happened #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:25:37 +0000 2012
More than 40 friends and family have packed out the public gallery. Press area also full #nikitta
Tue Feb 21 10:12:52 +0000 2012
#nikitta trial expected to start in 5 mins. Judge will continue summing up and jury is expected out later this morning
Tue Feb 21 10:11:19 +0000 2012
RT @ArgusAChalk: Back in Newport Crown Court with @ArgusNCrockett, who is tweeting today. Jury expected to retire in the #nikitta trial ...
Tue Feb 21 09:28:06 +0000 2012
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