FRANCE: The man accused of the rape and murder of English schoolgirl Caroline Dickinson in a French youth hostel eight years ago admitted yesterday that he had a history of stalking young girls at hostels across Europe for sex.
Francisco Arce Montes had a preference for girls aged between 12 and 15, the opening day of his trial in Rennes, France, was told by a senior court official. Before Caroline's death, he had preyed on children in youth hostels in Britain, Holland, France and Spain.
Earlier on the night Caroline died, Montes had tried, unsuccessfully, to assault another English girl in a different youth hostel.
Frustrated by his failure, he drove 12 miles and broke into the hostel where Caroline and 40 other pupils of Launceston College in Cornwall were sleeping.
Caroline died "in tens of seconds and a maximum of two minutes", the court was told.
The details of the assault were revealed for the first time in a one-hour outline of the prosecution case. Throughout the hearing, Mr John Dickinson (45) and his 46-year-old former wife, Sue, sat in the courtroom with their other daughter, Jenny (19).
Montes, a 54-year-old Spanish waiter and former lorry-driver, sat blank-faced and seemingly unconcerned as the details of his sexual offences were read out. At the conclusion of the evidence, the presiding judge, Ms Fabienne Doroy, looked across at the defendant and said: "Do you agree with what has been said?" Montes maintained a blank look. Then, after a pause, he replied: "Would you like me to answer? I agree."
The trial is expected to last at least a week.
Montes has been awaiting trial since his arrest in Miami and his extradition to France in November 2001. He is charged with raping and murdering 13-year-old Caroline at a youth hostel in the village of Pleine Fougères, Brittany, in July 1996.
Montes was arrested and extradited from the US in 2001 after a chance breakthrough. US Customs investigator Mr Tommy Ontko had read about the murder of Caroline and the unsuccessful hunt for her killer in a British newspaper. He made the connection to a Spanish man who had been arrested for a similar attack in Miami.
Montes was extradited after a DNA sample linked him to the murder scene in the Breton village. He has a string of convictions for sex offences. - (PA)