Police used toys to draw out memories of attack

A SPEECH therapist was employed after Josie first began to show that she could remember the attack. At the time Josie only had the speaking ability of a two-year-old, but Tanya Allen began to help her through the painful process of telling what had happened.

The two detective constables, Ed Tingley and Pauline Smith, who helped Josie recall the events of 9 July, said they had first tried to ensure that she had some understanding. They tried to bring her up to the time of the attack by discussing memories of her childhood in Africa.

To help her describe the scene, models of the family, "the man" and Lucy the family dog were used in a tiny replica of what was the family home in Nonington, near Canterbury, and the scene of the attack at nearby Chillenden.

They compiled scrapbooks of types of clothing, cars, weapons and colours. It was from these that Josie picked out the hammer, standing to get a closer look and placing a tick by the weapon. She chose the clothes of her attacker, using sticky coloured paper to dress the figurine and colouring his hair blond.

The interviews took place at the family home, at neighbouring houses and in a special interview suite where Josie seemed eager to provide as much detail as possible.

In the video she puts her hands behind her back to show how she was tied, and uses paper towels to represent the towels they were carrying home from a swimming gala to show how she and her mother were blindfolded.

Josie also used a mock toy hammer and the model of Dr Lin Russell to show how her mother had been struck.

At one stage, she is filmed in a neighbour's home trying to put together an image of the killer. Clearly relieved to be finished, Josie lets out a loud "Phew" as the session ends.