Draft Statement

The police took my basic statement in the hospital after they had done the horrible forensic tests but my Dad agreed that I would go to give a full formal statement tomorrow so I am just typing this at home to try to get it all in order. It is pretty much a jumble in my head but I think I can fit it together as it really happened.

Julie hit 18 just a week after I did and we all met up at Café Rinaldo. I didn’t get anyone to pick me up as there are always plenty of cabs and I didn’t want to trouble anyone. We left the café at around midnight and there were still lots of people about. A few of us said goodbye outside the café but I thought I had better pop to the loo so I went back into the café and, when I came out, they had all dispersed. That is not their fault as we had said goodbye. I began to walk to the taxi rank but a white car drew up beside me. It had a lit TAXI sign on the roof. The passenger window was down and the driver called to me asking if I wanted a cab so I got in and gave him my address. He seemed an ordinary kind of guy and we chatted about what I had been doing. I had been especially glad to get in the cab rather than walking to the cab rank as it was raining quite hard.

We got onto the ring road and I had drunk a bit and the rain on the windows made it difficult to see where we were. We came off the ring road and did a bit of town driving and then suddenly, he swung off the road and stopped. I realized that I had no idea where we were. He jumped out of the car and ran quite fast round to my side and opened the door for me. He was pointing a long knife at me and telling me to get out of the car. I was really scared and did not move at first but he threatened that he would use the knife if I didn’t do what he wanted so I did get out of the car and I was talking to him trying to “talk him down” and make him put the knife down.

We were on a patch of concrete at the front of a sort of workshop and he put one arm tight around my neck as he used his other hand to unlock a small door and push me inside. He was still holding the knife in the hand which had gone round my neck. It was dark inside and he threw me in so that I fell over on the floor while he shut the door behind us. I realized later that there were small windows quite high up which let in just enough light for him to make out where I was and he laid on top of me with the knife against my throat; his weight was crushing me and I could feel the cold blade against my neck. He sort of whispered but quite harsh and loud – like a stage whisper right into my ear and told me that he was going to kill me unless I did exactly as he wanted. I couldn’t move with him on top of me and he must have had a roll of gaffer tape in his pocket because he started winding around my head and covering my mouth which made me feel suffocated even though my nose was free.

He obviously knew this place very well because, still in the dark, he pulled me up by my hair. His hand was tight against my scalp so I really had to go wherever he wanted. We went through a door which had been closed but not locked. As we went in, he switched on the light using a switch which was just outside the door.

I was too scared to take in a proper de***********ion of the cellar.