Damilola witness: Police paid for a holiday in Spain

The chief prosecution witness in the Damilola Taylor murder trial spoke of a Spanish holiday paid for by the police and looked forward to receiving reward money when she was 18.

The 14-year-old girl is the only witness to the fatal attack on Damilola, the Crown says, and has identified three of the four youths charged with his murder.

Yesterday the jury at the Old Bailey saw videotapes of the girl during and after police interviews. In one, she told a teacher who was there as the girl's adult witness: "I'm going to Spain for free." Asked by the teacher, "So how come you are going for free", the girl replied: " 'Cos the police are paying for it." The teacher answered jokily: "Are they? Well, excuse me, I want to go somewhere."

In another part of the interview, the girl says: "I don't get none of this money until I'm 18."

The court has been told that a £50,000 reward was put up by a tabloid newspaper after Damilola, 10, was killed on the North Peckham estate, in south London. Mark Dennis, for the prosecution, has told the jury it will have to decide how much the reward helped or motivated the girl to come forward.

Before jurors began viewing the tapes, George Carter-Stephenson QC, for the defence, told them to note references to the reward, "which we suggest are important".

In one of the videos, a police officer praised the girl for her bravery in coming forward. The witness had begun her first interview with the claim: "I know who killed Damilola."

The girl, who had stormed out while giving evidence at the trial in the past few days, was seen looking relaxed and giggling in the interviews conducted in January 2001.

Asked why she had contacted the police, she said: "Because I kept seeing the news and it was just making me upset that I knew and his family's looking for the killers."

The girl has admitted to the court, under cross-examination, that she lied in her initial recorded interviews. But she insisted she thought she would get into trouble because she did not help or phone the police. "I would just like someone to confess. If it was my little brother then I'd want someone to say, 'I know who killed him'," she said.

The girl then went on to claim to the police, falsely, as she admitted later, that some of the defendants had telephoned her and had boasted: "That's one less African in the world."

The judge, Mr Justice Hooper, has allowed her to stay away until tomorrow while the jurors watch the videos. In one video, after an officer left the room, the girl buried her face for several minutes in the teacher's lap. As the woman chatted about game shows and singers with another officer, she stroked the girl's long hair. The teacher said she hoped the girl would not leave dandruff on her lap. "No, I've got fleas," joked the girl. Later, the teacher told her: "It's all right, hush baby, hush."

Two brothers aged 16, and two youths, aged 17 and 14, deny murder, manslaughter and assault with intent to rob.

The trial continues.