Drifter 'bragged about sleeping with Caroline'

The man accused of raping and killing Caroline Dickinson showed friends a photo of the schoolgirl and bragged about having sex with her, a court heard today.

Francisco Arce Montes told friends that Caroline was "a little china doll", the jury was told.

The details emerged as Eduardo Suarez, a former friend of Montes, testified on the fifth day of the trial in Rennes, France.

Mr Suarez said: "He showed me the photograph of an English girl and he said she was called Caroline Dickinson.

"He said she was a pretty girl, a little china doll and that we would never be able to pick her up."

Spanish waiter, Montes, 54, denies murdering Caroline but admits sexually assaulting her in a youth hostel in Pleine Fougeres on July 18, 1996.

Spanish car salesman Suarez, 44, added: "This picture of the girl was signed by her or by her parents. He showed the photo to his friends Jose and Javier.

"I asked him how he knew this girl and he said he had met her in a youth hostel in Brittany in France and she was playing in a garden with other girls.

"He said he made love to her and that this photo was in the girl's bag.