Lindsay Birbeck murder trial: Boy 'moved Accrington woman's body in bin' Published duration 26 February

image copyright Lancashire Police image caption Lindsay Birbeck was found 12 days after she was reported missing

A 16-year-old boy dumped a teaching assistant's body in a cemetery after moving her remains inside a wheelie bin, a court has heard.

Lindsay Birbeck, 47, of Accrington, Lancashire, was found in a shallow grave 12 days after she went missing.

Preston Crown Court heard Mrs Birbeck died of neck injuries in August.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murder but admits burying the body for a stranger who promised him "a lot of money".

Jurors heard mother-of-two Mrs Birbeck was last seen on 12 August heading towards an area known locally as The Coppice, where the prosecution said she was killed a short time later.

A police search began after her concerned family raised the alarm when the keep-fit enthusiast did not return home that evening.

Many members of the local community joined the search but the body was not discovered until 24 August when a dog walker reported spotting a plastic cover with a leg in a wooded area at Accrington Cemetery.

Mrs Birbeck's naked body was found wrapped in two clear plastic bags.

'Promised money'

David McLachlan QC, prosecuting, said: "The young man went to exceptional lengths to move her body and also did a very good job of hiding her body in a shallow grave."

The boy, now aged 17, "did such a good job" that it was not found for 12 days despite the police and public search.

He pulled a bin along Burnley Road to The Coppice, more than four hours after Mrs Birbeck went missing.

Five days later he retrieved the bin and hauled it to the cemetery.

A Home Office pathologist concluded severe compression neck injuries caused the death which could have been done by stamping, kicking or kneeling on the front of the neck.

The youth went to a police station with his family after a CCTV still of a male pulling a blue wheelie bin was published on 27 August.

In a prepared statement he admitted moving the bin and burying the body but said he was not involved in Mrs Birbeck's death.

He claimed a stranger, who had not met before or since, promised him "a lot of money" to dispose of a body.

The trial is expected to last three weeks