Dutroux denies 14-year-old was his intended target

Belgium's most notorious paedophile Marc Dutroux said yesterday that a 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped, raped and held in an underground cellar was not his intended victim.

Belgium's most notorious paedophile Marc Dutroux said yesterday that a 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped, raped and held in an underground cellar was not his intended victim.

Dutroux, said that Laetitia Delhez, who testified in court yesterday, was seized from outside a swimming pool in the town of Bertrix only because he failed to abduct another girl who had already been identified as a potential target.

"When [the van] broke down that day, we arrived late at Bertrix and took Laetitia," he told the court, claiming that his co-defendant Michel Nihoul had staked out the planned abduction of the other girl. Ms Delhez was held for three days and freed after the arrest of Dutroux who was also holding 12-year-old Sabine Dardenne captive. Both victims have confronted their former captor during three dramatic days in court.

Now aged 22, Ms Delhez told the court on Tuesday how she was chained to a bed and raped after her abduction in 1996. "He didn't give a damn. He would ask [if it hurt] while smiling, as if it made him laugh," she said. Ms Dardenne, who was held for 80 days told Mr Dutroux to "go to hell" when he tried to apologise.

Dutroux is accused of seizing six girls, including two eight-year-olds who starved to death in his cellar, and of the murder of two teenagers.

He admits a number of abductions and rapes but denies the murders.