A teenager's desperate struggle with serial killer Robert Black as he tried to bundled her into his van has been recounted at his latest murder trial.

Fifteen-year-old Teresa Thornhill, who ultimately escaped the notorious paedophile's grasp after biting and kicking him, later told police: "I was fighting for my life."

Dramatic details of the failed abduction bid in Nottingham in 1988 were recounted at Armagh Crown Court on the 13th day of Black's trial for the kidnap and murder of Jennifer Cardy in Northern Ireland seven years earlier.

Earlier, the jury visited the quiet country road in Ballinderry, Co Antrim, where Jennifer was snatched in August 1981 and the dam 15 miles away where the nine-year-old's body was found six days later.

In 1994, Black was convicted of three other child murders and the attempted kidnapping in the Radford area of Nottingham.

The court heard today that work records and petrol purchase receipts placed the former delivery driver close to all those crime scenes.

The Crown contends that similar documentation links the Scottish killer to the area where Jennifer vanished. The 64-year-old denies the charges.

Retired Scottish police detective Roger Orr, who led the triple murder investigation in the early 1990s, told the jury of Black's efforts to capture Teresa in April 1988.

He said she had been walking home with a friend when they spotted a blue Ford Transit van driving suspiciously. She and her friend then went their separate ways before Teresa again saw the vehicle, this time parked up on the road in front of her.

Mr Orr said she crossed to the other side of the road because she felt uneasy. The former Lothian and Borders Police detective chief superintendent said Black then opened the bonnet and called across to her.

"He asked her if she could fix engines," he said. "At this time she was becoming quite concerned and quickened her pace. But she was immediately grabbed from behind, she didn't see it coming."

Mr Orr said Black enveloped her with both arms and tried to drag her over to his van. "It was a very strong bear hug, pinning her arms by her sides and lifting her off the street," he said.

In her efforts to escape, Teresa bit Black on the hand and arm and knocked off his glasses.

"She screamed continuously and struggled," said Mr Orr. "In her own words, she was fighting for her life."

Black thrust his hand over her nose and mouth and tried to push her into the door of his van. Mr Orr said the schoolgirl resisted fiercely, wedging her feet up on either side of the door frame and refusing to go in. "He responded by saying 'Get in, you bitch'," said the retired officer.

At this point, Teresa's friend, who had heard her cries for help, came running to the scene. Black finally let go and the pair ran away.

Mr Orr recounted Teresa's lucky escape as he gave evidence for a second day about Black's dark criminal past.

The serial killer showed no emotion in the dock as the details were outlined to the jury and judge Mr Justice Ronald Weatherup.

Jennifer's parents, Andy and Patricia, and her younger sister, Victoria, watched from the public gallery.

Hours before Mr Orr retook the stand, the jury visited the locations involved in Jennifer's case.

The schoolgirl vanished as she cycled from her home in Ballinderry to a friend's house.

Accompanied by the judge and prosecution and defence lawyers, the jury retraced that short journey along the Crumlin Road, stopping where Jennifer's bike was thrown into a field beside the road.

The schoolgirl's body was found six days later floating in McKee's dam, which is located behind a lay-by on the main A1 road at Hillsborough, Co Down.

Escorted by police, the jury members were taken to the lay-by where they walked to the waterside, yards from the place where Jennifer was discovered. The defendant was not taken to the scenes of his alleged crimes.

Black was finally caught red-handed in 1990 in the Scottish village of Stow with a hooded six-year-old girl stuffed into a sleeping bag in the back of his van.

Mr Orr has already outlined details of two of the three murders Black was convicted of - 11-year-old Susan Maxwell, from the Scottish borders, in July 1982, and five-year-old Caroline Hogg, from Edinburgh, in July 1983.

On Thursday, he described the circumstances of the murder of Sarah Harper, 10, from Morley, near Leeds, in March 1986.

Sarah disappeared after leaving her home to buy a loaf of bread at a corner shop. She vanished on her way home. Her body was found floating in the River Trent near Nottingham a month later. She had been raped.

Mr Orr said the schoolgirl had drowned, though he stressed she may have been dumped in the river while she was unconscious. "Put simply, she was alive and capable of breathing when she was put in the water," he said.

The detective then revealed the horrific extent of the injuries inflicted by Black.

Crown counsel Toby Hedworth QC asked the retired officer to explain how records of Black's work as a delivery driver had helped to convict him.

Mr Orr went through each case noting that petrol dockets and delivery schedules had placed the killer close to both the scenes of the abductions and the so-called "Midland triangle" - the tight geographic area where all the girls' bodies were found.

Under cross-examination, defence counsel David Spens QC asked the former detective about similarities in the three murders, the kidnap in Stow, the attempted kidnap in Nottingham and another suspicious approach on a young girl in Stow.

These included the very close proximity of the incidents to his delivery routes, the clothes worn by his victims, Black's efforts to gag some of the girls and the fact that the bodies were found with no shoes on.

The trial was adjourned to sit again on Monday.