Lindsay Birbeck: Teen 'killed woman and moved body in wheelie bin'

A teenager killed a teaching assistant before moving her body in a wheelie bin and burying her in a makeshift grave, a retrial has heard.

Preston Crown Court was told the body of Lindsay Birbeck, 47, was discovered by a dog walker in Accrington Cemetery.

The 17-year-old male defendant, who cannot be named because of his age, denies murder and manslaughter.

The prosecution claims Mrs Birbeck was killed in woodland before her body was found in shallow grave on 24 August.

David McLachlan QC, prosecuting, told the jury the keep-fit enthusiast left her home on Burnley Road, Accrington, at about 16:00 BST on 12 August and headed towards an area of woodland known as The Coppice, where she would often walk.

He said the prosecution believed the mother of two was killed somewhere in the wood shortly after.

"The prosecution case is that her killer is the young man who sits in the dock of the court," he said.

Mr McLachlan said the defendant, who was aged 16 at the time of the killing, was seen on CCTV that afternoon in the same area.

Later that evening he was seen taking a blue wheelie bin towards the woodland, which the prosecution claims was used to conceal her body.

Mrs Birbeck was reported missing by her family just after midnight on 13 August and police started an investigation into her disappearance.

On 17 August the defendant was seen moving a wheelie bin from the woodland to the cemetery, the court heard.

Her body was found by a man walking his dog in the cemetery on 24 August.

Judge Mrs Justice Yip told jurors a trial had started in February but the jury was discharged, but it was "not in any way the fault of anyone involved in this case".

The trial continues.