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| Lindsay Birbeck: Teenager guilty of murdering teaching assistant | Lindsay Birbeck: Teenager guilty of murdering teaching assistant |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A 17-year-old boy has been found guilty of the murder of a teaching assistant. | A 17-year-old boy has been found guilty of the murder of a teaching assistant. |
| The body of Lindsay Birbeck, 47, was found in a shallow grave in Accrington Cemetery, Lancashire, 12 days after she went missing on 12 August 2019. | The body of Lindsay Birbeck, 47, was found in a shallow grave in Accrington Cemetery, Lancashire, 12 days after she went missing on 12 August 2019. |
| The verdict came a year to the day since Mrs Birbeck went missing while out walking in Huncoat. | The verdict came a year to the day since Mrs Birbeck went missing while out walking in Huncoat. |
| He admitted moving the mother-of-two's body and claimed he buried her for a stranger who promised him money, Preston Crown Court heard. | He admitted moving the mother-of-two's body and claimed he buried her for a stranger who promised him money, Preston Crown Court heard. |
| 'Prowling the woods' | |
| Mrs Birbeck's 17-year-old daughter Sarah raised the alarm when her mother did not return from her afternoon walk to have tea at 18:00 BST. | |
| Mrs Birbeck had left her home in Burnley Road, Accrington, to stroll in a nearby wooded area known as the Coppice. | Mrs Birbeck had left her home in Burnley Road, Accrington, to stroll in a nearby wooded area known as the Coppice. |
| The court heard her attacker had been prowling the woods for lone females and is thought to have killed Mrs Birbeck shortly after she entered the Coppice. | The court heard her attacker had been prowling the woods for lone females and is thought to have killed Mrs Birbeck shortly after she entered the Coppice. |
| Her killer, who was 16 at the time, attended a police station several days after her naked body was discovered wrapped in two plastic bags following a police CCTV appeal. | |
| The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, denied murder and manslaughter. | The teenager, who cannot be named because of his age, denied murder and manslaughter. |
| But he admitted dragging a bin, with Mrs Birbeck inside, from the Coppice across Burnley Road to the cemetery where he buried her. | |
| 'Implausible fiction' | |
| He claimed a man had approached him with the promise of a large cash reward if he disposed of the body. | |
| He stated: "I have not met this man before. I have not met him since, nor have I had any contact with him. | |
| "He has not paid me any money. He told me that he would leave the money for me near where the body had been at first once everything was clear." | |
| The prosecution said the defendant's account was "implausible fiction". | |
| Another woman said a lone male wearing a grey tracksuit with his hood up had followed her on her walk shortly before Mrs Birbeck entered the Coppice. | |
| She said she feared for her safety and he was getting closer when she startled him by glancing back. | |
| A post-mortem examination concluded the cause of Mrs Birbeck's death was neck injuries. No evidence of a sexual assault could be found. | |
| An attempt had also been made to cut off a leg, possibly with a saw. | |
| The teenager is due to be sentenced on Friday. | |
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