A five-year-old Irish girl was snatched from her bed, raped and murdered in a fit of drunken anger by her mother's former boyfriend, a Manchester court heard yesterday.
Rosemary McCann's body was found seven weeks later in a hold-all hidden behind a wall just 200 yards from the home of her alleged killer, pub disc jockey Mr Andrew Pountley (32), prosecuting counsel Mr Richard Henriques QC, told Manchester Crown Court.
He said that earlier Mr Pountley had had an argument with the girl's mother, Ms Josie Mahon (27), whom he had threatened to kill.
The prosecution alleged that Mr Pountley had later taken a taxi to Ms Mahon's home in Oldham, where Rosemary - known to her family as Rosalyn - had been left sleeping alone with her six-year-old brother in the early hours.
"The prosecution case in a nutshell is this, that in drink and at a time when Andrew Pountley was angry with Rosalyn's mother, he took Rosalyn from her mother's home. He took her to his own home. There he raped her, suffocated her and placed her body in a black bin-liner which he placed in a hold-all," said Mr Henriques.
Mr Pountley, of Kew Road, Oldham, is pleading not guilty to the abduction, rape and murder of the girl exactly a year ago.
Mr Henriques said Mr Pountley had lived with mother-of-three Ms Mahon for 18 months until the autumn of 1995, but their relationship deteriorated. After their separation, they continued to see each other in a "turbulent" relationship.
Mr Henriques said that on the night before the child's disappearance, Ms Mahon had arranged to meet Mr Pountley at the Junction pub where he worked. She had set off with her cousin, Mr Martin Joyce, and his girlfriend, Ms Victoria Shea, leaving her daughter and brother, Martin, with two teenage baby-sitters.
They arrived later than Mr Pountley expected. In the meantime, he had made two telephone calls to the baby-sitters. Mr Henriques said Mr Pountley was alleged to have told them: "Tell Josie she's trapped. When I see her I'm going to kill her."
When Ms Mahon arrived at the pub, she was confronted by Mr Pountley, who demanded to know where she had been and threatened to kill her. As Ms Mahon left the pub, he told her he would ring her home in 10 minutes and if she was not there "she would be sorry".
Mr Henriques said Ms Mahon arrived home after midnight and found her two children sleeping. The baby-sitters left but Ms Mahon, Mr Joyce and Ms Shea went to a neighbour's a few doors away, leaving the children alone, with the front door closed but not locked.
He said Ms Mahon stayed drinking at the neighbour's until about 2.30 a.m. and on her return home "discovered the awful truth" that her daughter was missing.
He said Mr Pountley had told police that after leaving work at the pub that night, he had gone for an Indian takeaway, taken a taxi home and gone straight to bed. But Mr Henriques said the prosecution had the "clearest possible evidence" that he had ordered a taxi from his home at 12.16 a.m.
There was "compelling" forensic evidence and a number of sightings of Mr Pountley with the child in the early hours to show that he had abducted and murdered her. A pyjama top she had been wearing was found during a search of Mr Pountley's house. Blood matching that of the child was found on it.
Mr Henriques said a 12-year-old boy who was a neighbour of the dead child had seen Mr Pountley go into the house in the early hours and come out carrying the little girl.
The trial continues today.