A FORENSIC pathologist told the jury in the Lindsay Birbeck murder trial that she had ‘never seen compression with this sort of damage to the neck’ in 25 years working as a doctor.

At Preston Crown Court today, the jury heard how the naked body of the teaching assistant was discovered in a shallow grave by a dog walker, with medical examinations concluding she died from ‘severe injuries’ caused by possible ‘stamping or kneeling’ on her neck.

Evidence from several witnesses was presented to the jury, including a statement from the man who discovered her body, Morgan Parkinson, and forensic pathologist, Dr Naomi Carter.

Mrs Birbeck went missing on August 12, and her body was found in a shallow grave in Accrington Cemetery on August 24.

A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with her murder, and now aged 17, he denies the charge.

Dr Naomi Carter told the jury that when Mrs Birbeck’s body was found it was severely decomposed.

She said: “The body was found on its back with the neck flexed and it must be noted the body was also naked.

“There was severe fracturing in the neck and in order to fracture the structure in this way, there requires significant force. There was also some attempt to cut off the right leg after death.

“The larynx appeared to be crushed and the muscles in the front of the neck were decomposing quite badly and appear to be more advanced in decomposition than those around it.

“The neck appeared to have ‘gone off’ if I can put it like that, quicker than the rest of the body. If you have an injury to an area of the body before death these tend to ‘go off’ more quickly than other areas.”

Considering the possibility of strangulation, Dr Carter said she had never seen such extensive crushing damage to the larynx through manual strangulation in 25 years.

She added: “Nor have I seen compression with this sort of damage to the neck in 25 years. The crushing of the larynx is of great significance. In my view there was gross disruption of the neck structure.

“It’s unclear if strangulation has occurred, as the neck was crushed. But this suggests there was some severe fracture of the neck through stamping or kicking or kneeling on the front of the neck.

“But I can’t exclude strangulation, although there’s nothing to suggest ligature marks on her neck.”

Dr Carter told the jury that the deep purple colour to her body and her overall state was in keeping with Mrs Birbeck having died shortly after the time she was reported to have gone missing.

Dr Carter explained how Mrs Birbeck’s upper body was significantly darker than the lower part of her body.

She said due to this colouring, it was difficult to see if there was any significant bruising on her upper torso, and any darker patches on her body ‘may have been bruising’ but were very difficult to distinguish.

She also said that the darker colouring of Mrs Birbeck’s upper body was in keeping with her body being placed upside down and kept that way for some time.

When asked if this could have occurred if her body had been placed upside down in a wheelie bin, she said it was possible.

Dr Carter also said that sexual activity could not be ruled out although there was no clear evidence to suggest this.

She told the jury that in her opinion, the cut to the leg could have been made using a saw as there was evidence of ‘teeth marks’ on the bone.

Cross examining Dr Carter, Mark Fenhalls QC for the defence, asked her if the dark patches on Mrs Birbeck’s arms could have been defence bruises.

She said this was possible.

The jury heard about the moments Mrs Birbeck’s body was discovered on August 24, and in a statement from Mr Parkinson He told the police: “I was walking through the cemetery for about 10-15 minutes and headed to the bottom grass area. I let the dog off the lead and she ran into the wooded area.

“I called her three or four times but she didn’t come out so I went into the bushes to see if I could see her.

“I walked in and she had her head down in the bushes, she was not paying attention to me. I walked further forward and stood on something soft and squishy. I jumped back and grabbed my dog by the collar.

“I then smelled something horrible. I could see plastic sheeting and what looked like a leg to me. I ran back out of the bushes and called my partner Sarah, and then called the police.”

The jury were also read a statement from PC Robyn Say, who attended the cemetery on August 24, in which she said: “What I saw was a shallow ditch with a mound of soil in the middle.

“There was a section that had been disturbed by Mr Parkinson’s dog and under this was plastic sheeting and I could see what looked like pale skin.

“I attempted to move some of the undergrowth and used my baton and could see flesh.”

Det Sgt David Bowler confirmed that a wheelie bin found in the cemetery had both blood stains and strands of dark hair inside, and DNA from these matched DNA of Mrs Birbeck.

He also confirmed that marks found on a concrete plinth behind the Whitaker’s Arms pub matched those of a blue wheelie bin.

The jury were also told how gloves found in the cemetery had the defendant’s DNA inside with Mrs Birbeck’s DNA on the outside.

Proceedings continue on Tuesday.