NIKKI Allen, the seven-year-old girl who was beaten to death in
Sunderland on Wednesday night, was seen begging outside a public house
before she was abducted, police said yesterday.
Police believe that the customers in the Boar's Head, Sunderland, on
Wednesday may hold vital clues to the killing. Nikki was clubbed to
death and left in a pool of blood in a disused warehouse after
disappearing from outside her home in Wear Garth, Sunderland, Tyne and
Wear.
Witnesses have told detectives that they saw her at around 10pm -- 10
minutes after she was last seen by her mother -- standing alone outside
the pub. ''She was asking people for money,'' said a Northumbria police
spokesman.
Detectives are trying to trace everyone who visited the pub on the
Wednesday night. Last night they said that a man rang their incident
room on Thursday to say that a 14-year-old girl had told him that a
bloodstained man she saw on Wednesday night claimed he had just murdered
someone.
''The call was anonymous. Police appeal for the male caller and/or the
girl to contact them,'' said the spokesman.
Detective Superintendent George Sinclair, leading the murder inquiry,
said that the killer may be a local man, possibly known to Nikki. Police
think that he led her away from the Boar's Head down High Street East or
Lower Road.
Mr Sinclair appealed to anyone in the area at the time to contact
police. ''Provided we get the assistance of the public, I have no doubt
we will conclude the inquiry,'' he said. The incident room had received
more than 100 calls in the first 24 hours of the murder inquiry.
A post-mortem examination showed that Nikki was beaten to death but
found no signs of a sexual assault -- however, Mr Sinclair did not rule
out a sexual element to the attack. ''It may have started off as a
sexual motive but may have stopped, resulting in the girl being
killed.''
He said that police thought the killer was familiar with the High
Street West warehouse where Nikki's body was found in the basement. ''It
is a dark place down there, not very well-lit. It's a dangerous place to
be unless you know the place.''
Police said that Nikki's mother Mrs Sharon Allen, 25, was still deeply
shocked and under sedation.
Mr Sinclair said it was possible that Nikki was asking for cash for
Halloween outside the pub. ''She was apparently asking people for money
and that is not inconceivable as Halloween approaches.''
He added: ''It is possible that Nikki's killer may have been drinking
in the Boar's Head that night. But at the moment I am keeping an open
mind.''
Nikki's schoolfriends prayed for her in a tribute at St John's and St
Patrick's Primary, Sunderland. Acting headmaster Mr Bill Cairns said:
''She was a beautiful girl who will be dearly missed. We prayed that we
could all be strong together until this terrible black cloud has blown
over.
''We know it is not going to be easy, and that the children will go on
shedding tears. But we hope eventually we can put this horrible event
behind us.''
Nikki's grandfather made an appeal for help in tracking down her
killer. Mr Richard Prest, 51, said: ''Nikki was the apple of my eye, I
thought the world of her. We have to catch this monster before he
strikes again.''
A former dock worker, who lives just 100 yards from Nikki's home in
Wear Garth, Mr Prest said the family has been overwhelmed by the
sympathy and support from friends and neighbours.
Nikki's uncle, Mr Terry Clark, 33, said: ''The whole family is
devastated by this tragedy. I don't imagine we will ever come to terms
with it. Nikki was a great little girl, loved by everybody, and her life
didn't deserve to end this way.''
He said he believed she had been snatched, because she had been warned
never to go with strangers. ''She wasn't the sort of girl who would just
go off. She knew the dangers.''
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