JENNA Brookfield's father told Michael Baldwin he was receiving silent phone calls after his daughter's disappearance - but thought "some sicko" was making them, jurors were told.

As Nigel Brookfield (pictured) took the stand to give evidence at Cardiff crown court he shot several glances at the man accused of murdering 15-year-old Jenna.

Mr Brookfield, 39, of Abergavenny, was asked by David Aubrey QC, prosecuting, about the three silent phone calls he received after she disappeared.

Mr Brookfield said he received three silent phone calls, the first at 6.15pm on October 1 following an appeal he made on television for his daughter to return.

He answered that phone call but there was silence on the other end and it was put down almost immediately.

He dialled 1471 but the number was withheld. Mr Brookfield received the second and third silent calls on Saturday, October 5, while at home with his son Neil.

His wife, Joyce, was at work. Mr Brookfield said: "I was in the bathroom having a shave and Neil answered it." Mr Aubrey said: "Could you hear what he was saying?"

Mr Brookfield answered: "He was saying 'hello, hello, who is it? I know it's you Jenna. Stop messing about'. I heard that and immediately ran downstairs and said 'What's going on?' and he put the phone down and said 'Whoever made the call was making a sniffing noise' (at this point Mr Brookfield demonstrated the sniffing noise) 'and I think it might have been Jenna'.

"I said 'Don't raise your hopes, she probably would have said something if it was her'." Again, jurors heard, the number was withheld.

At 2.09pm Mr Brookfield received another call at home. He told the court: "I answered it and I heard the same things - sniffing noises. "I knew straight away it was the same person who rang earlier. I said 'hello, hello, who is it?'."

Mr Brookfield said after a period of silence the sniffing began to get louder until the receiver was replaced.

He said the call lasted around 30 seconds. He added: "It sounded to me like it was made in a phone box from the clatter I heard when the phone was put down."

Mr Brookfield told jurors he rang Pontypool police station and reported the two silent calls, then washed up before telephoning Desiree.

She was out, and he spoke to Michael Baldwin. "I said to him 'I've received two calls today. Someone made sniffling noises'. "I said 'It was not Jenna - if it was Jenna she would have said something. It was probably some sicko'."

Mr Aubrey asked what Baldwin's reaction had been to news of the silent phone calls. Mr Brookfield said: "He was sort of 'oh, all right'. There was no real comment."

Asked by the prosecutor if Baldwin referred to shoes, Mr Brookfield replied: "The police had been to the house and had taken all his shoes and Desiree was having to go out and buy him a new pair because he had nothing to wear." Mr Aubrey asked Mr Brookfield whether Baldwin sounded put out about this and he said yes.

Mr Aubrey then said: "Because of that did you say anything about it?" Mr Brookfield said: "I said 'The thing is from a police point of view you were the last person to see Jenna'. He said 'Yes, that's what they think'."

Mr Brookfield said he found out about Jenna's disappearance through his mother, Olive Brookfield, in a telephone call on Friday, September 13.

Mr Brookfield immediately rang Desiree to get more details. He was put on to Baldwin, who claimed to have been the last one to see Jenna, at the house with a red-haired girl, on September 10.

Baldwin told Mr Brookfield that he was sleeping following a night shift at the Brandon's poultry factory in Abergavenny when he was awoken by Jenna and the red-haired girl. Mr Brookfield said: "He (Baldwin) said that she was walking around looking up at the ceiling making purring noises.

"I then said 'What about the girl? Did she say anything?' He said 'No, she just sat there'. "I then asked 'Is there anything else?' and he said that Jenna was looking out at the school like she was waiting for the teachers to leave."

Baldwin then told Mr Brookfield that he had left the pair of them in the house to pick up Josh from school.

When he returned, Baldwin said the front door was open, the stereo had been left on and the whole house had been left a mess.

Mr Brookfield told the jury how he tried to ascertain whether it was Jenna making text messages to Desiree's mobile phone from October 17 onwards.

Desiree gave Mr Brookfield the number of the mobile from which the messages were coming and he sent a message which said 'Just want to know if you are OK'. Mr Brookfield said: "I also asked her about the nickname that Neil used to call her years ago.

"He used to call her a character out of a book he was reading at the time in school which was Jenny Muffins."

Mr Aubrey asked: "Would Mrs Baldwin have known about that nickname?" Mr Brookfield replied: "No - Jenna hated it and used to tell me off.

"It used to wind her up. She was only about seven at the time." Baldwin, aged 36, of Limekiln Road, Abersychan, denies murder. Proceeding.