A 16-year-old boy killed a teaching assistant in broad daylight, moved her body in a wheelie bin and buried her in a makeshift grave in Lancashire, a court has heard.
The body of Lindsay Birbeck, 47, was discovered by a passing dog walker in Accrington cemetery on 24 August 2019, the jury was told during the first day of a trial at Preston crown court on Monday.
The defendant, now 17, denies murder and manslaughter. He cannot be named for legal reasons.
David McLachlan QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Birbeck, a mother of two, left her home on Burnley Road in Accrington at around 4pm on 12 August last year and headed towards an area of woodland known as the Coppice, where she often walked.
He said it was believed she was killed somewhere in the wood shortly afterwards. “The prosecution case is that her killer is the young man who sits in the dock of the court,” he told the court.
McLachlan said the defendant was seen in the same area that afternoon on CCTV and was later seen taking a blue wheelie bin towards the woodland, which the prosecution claim was used to conceal Birbeck’s body.
A police investigation into Birbeck’s disappearance began after her family reported her missing just after midnight on 13 August.
On 17 August the defendant was seen moving a wheelie bin that appeared “to be heavy” from the woodland towards the cemetery, the jury heard.
“The prosecution case is that the reason for this is simple and straightforward: the wheelie bin now contained the body of Lindsay Birbeck,” said McLachlan.
On 24 August Morgan Parkinson was walking his dog in the cemetery when the animal ran into a wooded area. When he pulled the dog away, he saw a plastic cover and what appeared to be a leg, the court heard.
After Parkinson called the police, officers found a body in a shallow ditch, the jury was told.
The defendant, who was accompanied by an intermediary in the dock, has autism and special educational needs.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the trial is being spread across three courtrooms, with relatives of the victim, the defendant’s parents and members of the press watching in separate courtrooms from the jury and counsel.
The defendant had already faced a trial in February, but it was not possible to finish it and the jury was discharged, the judge, Mrs Justice Yip, told jurors.
She added: “You can rest assured that the problem that led to the jury being discharged last time was not in any way the fault of anyone involved in this case.”
The trial continues.
