April Jones murder trial: Seven-year-old best friend tells of moment 'she got into the van with a happy face' April's friend told jury they were about to go home because it was dark The girl, who cannot be named, then said she saw April 'get in a Land Rover' She got in the van, having a happy face. She wasn't upset,' she said Prosecution say driver was Mark Bridger, 47, who denies kidnap and murder By Paul Bentley and Martin Robinson With her teddies Minty and Mr Bumble by her side for support, the best friend of April Jones today told a jury she saw the missing schoolgirl allegedly being abducted "with a smile on her face." The child, seven, who is the crucial witness in the case, said April climbed into the car willingly, after she called out "April come on" so they could go home because it was getting dark. She also drew a picture for detectives of the 'grey Land Rover van', which the prosecution says was driven by Mark Bridger, 47, who then murdered April and disposed of her body, Mold Crown Court heard today. The witness explained she recognised the vehicle because she had seen two friends in it before - the children of Mr Bridger. Hearing: A film of April Jones's best friend describing to police when the schoolgirl disappeared was played to Mold Crown Court today Heartbroken: April Jones's parents Paul and Coral (pictured today) were in court to hear evidence from their daughter's best friend, who said April happily got into a Land Rover - the last time she was seen "Her mum and dad didn't allow her to go in it," the child witness said while holding her brown bunny Mr Bumble to her chest. She didn't say she was going to go in it. I knew they wouldn't let her go at that time The man didn't take her into the van. She got in the van, having a happy face, she had. She wasn't upset. The girl appeared via video link, as the man accused of murdering her best friend watched on. The jury of nine women and three men had earlier been introduced to the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons. Wearing a pink top, white headband and holding her white teddy bear, she waved and played on screen as the judge Mr Justice Griffith-Williams introduced himself and explained that he was not wearing a wig today in case she did not like it. Suspect: Mark Bridger arrives in court today (left), and the jury heard more evidence claiming it was him (right) who abducted and murdered April last October Evidence: April's seven-year-old friend was later questioned by video link, and was asked to draw the vehicle and person she believed took her friend The jury was then shown a video of an interview she gave after April was abducted and killed. Leaning back on a sofa and twiddling a brown toy rabbit named Mr Bumble in her hands, the child handed orange squash and crisps before being reassured by police officers. One officer said: "Everything we talk about here has to be the truth, no making things up. If you don't know you can tell me you don't know. Some people might tell fibs to get themselves out of trouble She was then carefully asked a series of questions about what happened on the night she saw her friend being abducted. She said she had been playing with April after school but decided to walk home because it was late. She then looked back and, thinking April had dropped something, shouted: "April come on." She noticed a man by a BT van and a grey Land Rover, which she then sketched for the officers. "We were just playing until the man came," she added. We were going to go home because it was a little bit dark. I said: "April come on" I saw her by the person waiting by the van. The man got out of the van and he was waiting outside of the van for someone. I didn't think it would be April he was waiting for. Her mum and dad told her not to get in cars at that time. She got in the car, she wasn't crying and she was happy. She got in the back of the van and it just drove off I didn't hear anything. I didn't hear any talking. I was too far away to hear it. I didn't know she was going to get in the van. "It looked quite familiar," she added, although she said she had never met the man before. My friend April went missing. I was in Bryn y Gog by the houses where a grey Land Rover van was parked. Me and her - me and April - were playing and there was a man in there, there was. She described how April climbed into the back seat of the man's Land Rover after she tried and failed to open the back doors. He was waiting outside. They were talking. After that she just got in the van, she did. And then they just drove off. "The two back doors were locked and they were broken so she had to get through the driver's way to get into the back," she said. April tried to open them, she did. And they wouldn't work. She even tried the other one on the other side. She put her leg across and got to the back seat. She said April's brother then arrived to collect her because it was getting late. "Her brother came and said: "It's time for April to go home" and then I said what happened. I gave him her bike. I told her mum April's got into someone's car and she hasn't came back. Asked to describe the man she saw, April's friend said: "He had green or blue eyes, brown hair and I think he was wearing a jacket or a jumper. I was too far away to see. Bridger's barrister Brendan Kelly QC reminded April's best friend: "They explained to you, didn't they, the importance of telling the truth?" Discussing her sighting of the car, he asked the child: "Your mum showed you some pictures of Land Rovers, didn't she?" The girl, who had her arms folded while she was questioned, said she had tried to draw Land Rovers before she was interviewed by the police. "I had to think of what it looked like," she said, adding that she had seen the vehicle but "not that clearly." April's friend was then asked: "Were you drawing what your mum had shown you or what you had seen?" to which she replied: "I was drawing what I had seen." When shown pictures she had drawn, she laughed: "I'm just not good at them, I'm not good at Land Rovers." Trial: The seven-year-old appeared at Mold Crown Court (pictured) via video link, alongside her favourite toys On Friday April's mother relived the heartbreaking moment she let her five-year-old daughter play on the street that evening and never saw her again. Coral Jones said she and her husband Paul had both told April it was too late to go outside on her bike. "She kept on and on and had a little bit of a tantrum," Mrs Jones said. We eventually gave in. I zipped up her coat and she went off to play outside with her friend. I told her I didn't want her to be long. I think that was around 7pm. Mrs Jones said that at about 7.20pm it was getting dark and colder, and she wanted April to come back inside. When I calmed him down he said April's best friend said she had got into a car with a man and she had gone. I was frantically trying to find her. I searched around the estate everywhere I could think of. I even looked in bins. By that time, however, April was already in the hands of her killer. The prosecution says Mark Bridger murdered her after driving her off in his Land Rover. Last week the jury in the trial of the former abattoir worker were taken by coach to the 47-year-old's white-washed cottage, and led through the rooms where the five-year-old may have been murdered. Lounge: This is Mark Bridger's living room, where forensics found blood and bone fragments, a room which was shown to jurors