Accused 'knew house' court hears

Ben Needham's family are still hopeful they may find him

A mother and daughter have appeared in court accused of stealing thousands of pounds raised to find a child who vanished from a Greek island.

Alison and Joan Jarvis, 49, are accused of taking £23,000 collected to search for Ben Needham.

Alison Jarvis, 23, the ex-fiancée of Ben's uncle Danny, had been many times to the house where the money was kept, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

The pair have admitted burgling the house, but deny taking the money.

Devastating split

Ben Needham went missing from Kos in July 1991.

His grandparents said they kept the money in a pillowcase under the bed at their home in Legsby, near Market Rasen, Lincolnshire,.

A month before the burglary, Alison Jarvis and Danny Needham pair split up, leaving the defendant, from Wrexham, North Wales, devastated, the court heard on Thursday.

On 29 May 2003, Edwin Needham left home with his wife, Christine, and their two sons, to go to an antiques fair for the weekend.

Telephone confrontation

That night, they received a call from their landlord to say that their house had been broken into.

Mr Needham said he arrived home to find the house had been "trashed" and the funds missing.

Christine Needham said Alison Jarvis had telephoned her the day before the burglary to ask if the family were going to be around the next day.

Following the break-in, Mrs Needham confronted the young woman over the telephone.

She told the court that Jarvis had denied being in Lincolnshire on that day and said she had an alibi to prove it.

Judge John Machin adjourned the hearing until Friday.