Schoolgirl `raped and abused in 14-hour kidnap ordeal'

Wednesday 11 January 1995 00:02 GMT
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A 12-year-old girl was beaten, raped and sexually abused in a 14-hour ordeal before being released near her home, the Old Bailey was told yesterday.

After enticing the girl into his flat, Brett Mills hit her over the head, bound and gagged her, threatened to stab her if she made a noise, and bundled her into a suitcase, the jury was told.

He then heaved the case into a cab and travelled to the home of his girlfriend - Susan Bailey, of Thornton Heath, south London - where he raped and assaulted her, Anne Rafferty QC, for the prosecution, said.

While on remand in jail, Mr Mills boasted about what he had done and gave such graphic descriptions it made a fellow prisoner vomit, the jury was told.

He claimed the girl was a willing party and it was her idea to leave his home in the suitcase so her friends would not see.

But Miss Rafferty told the jury: "The Crown's case is perfectly plain - this child was in terror."

Mr Mills, 34, of Croydon, south London, denies rape, buggery, indecent assault, abduction, false imprisonment and wounding the girl last March. Ms Bailey, 23, denies perverting the course of justice.

Miss Rafferty said Ms Bailey was a "devoted and criminally misguided girlfriend who put every obstacle in the way of the police". She cleaned up bloodstains at her home and at Mills's flat, lied to police by claiming the girl was a willing party to what happened, and said the girl waved a cheery goodbye when she was dropped off near her home.

In fact, the girl was dishevelled with blood-matted hair, a bleeding mouth and in great distress when seen moments later, said Miss Rafferty. After arriving home, she was taken straight to hospital.

The trial continues today when the girl is expected to give evidence.

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