Nikki Allan murder trial: Man accused of Sunderland girl’s killing will not give evidence to jury

David Boyd, who was 25 at the time, took Nikki Allan to the Old Exchange Building in Sunderland, where he beat her with a brick and shattered her skull before stabbing her multiple times, it is claimed.

Prosecutors say Nikki “skipped to her death” as she was lured away by Boyd, who she knew, from the block of flats where she lived close to the River Wear late in the evening on October 7 1992.

She was found dead the following morning inside the derelict Old Exchange.

Boyd, now 55, of Chesterton Court, Norton, Stockton, denies murder and is being tried by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court.

At the conclusion of the prosecution case, Jason Pitter KC, defending, said Boyd will not be called to give evidence from the witness box and will call no other defence evidence.

Mrs Justice Lambert asked Mr Pitter: “Can I just satisfy myself in the presence of the jury and in the presence of the defendant that the defendant is awarethat the stage has been reached at which evidence can be given for the defence, including evidence from him.”

Mr Pitter confirmed: “He is.”

The judge continued: “And that if he wished to give evidence he could do so.”

Mr Pitter said: “He knows that.”

Justice Lambert added: “And if the defendant chooses not to give evidence or having been sworn, without good cause, refuses to answer questions , it is permissible for the jury to draw such inferences as appear proper.”

Mr Pitter answered: “Yes.”

The judge has now begun to give the jury some legal directions before lawyers embark on making closing speeches to the jury.

Justice Lambert told jurors it is the prosecution case that Boyd was the person who lured Nikki away and killed her.

But the judge added: “The defence say the defendant did not kill Nikki Allan. It says, even when taken together, the various strands of evidence do not prove that he killed Nikki Allan and those strands of evidence are a result of innocent coincidences.”

Mrs Justice Lambert said jurors must put emotion aside when they consider the verdict and told them: “It is your duty to judge this case on the evidence you have heard.

“You must put your feelings to one side and analyse the evidence in a far and calm way and act dispassionately as you do that, in accordance with the oath you took.”

Prosecutor Richard Wright QC said Nikki was murdered and dumped like a “sack of rubbish” and that the killer was David Boyd.

Mr Wright told jurors: “He may not have the courage to make the walk from the dock into the witness box but he was the man, we say you can be sure, who made the walk from the Boars Head pub, down Low Street, over the wall and into the Old Exchange Building when he murdered Nikki Allan on October 7 1992.”

The trial continues.