Found Deceased UK - Lindsay Birbeck, 47, Accrington, 12 Aug 2019 *Arrest* #3

[SpursGyal]

not the description of the defendant then!!

We can't say that, we know nothing of his appearance and height, bar a blurry CCTV picture.

 

[Sally4x]

If that was the defendant he is a lot taller than I imagined so makes me understand more how he was able to harm Lindsay without her fighting back.

 

[jamjim]

11:08
Zoe Braithwaite contacted police
Zoe Braithwaite said there was a ‘mass search’ at the Coppice on August 19 and she went there hoping to find a police officer but couldn’t.

She then contacted 101 but couldn’t get through because it was busy.

Mrs Braithwaite told the jury that she then started to fill in a form on the Lancashire Constabulary website but her session ‘timed out’.

The next day (August 20) she completed the website form and included a ‘basic description of what I could see’.

Lindsay Birbeck murder trial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[SpursGyal]

11:08am

Cross examining, Mark Fenhalls QC, On August 12 you were out on the walk.

He asked if this was her usual walk.

She replied it was generally her usual walk, but could go other ways.

Mr Fenhalls QC asked if the search promoted her to speak to a police officer.

She said when she arrived at the search she tried to find one.

Mr Fenhalls QC asked how Ms Braithwaite reported the incident on the website.

Mrs Braithwaite replied by filling in the forms on the website.


DAY FIVE: Lindsay Birbeck trial continues

 

[Alyce]

Adding the map, showing Elmwood Close, The Coppice and Peel Park Hotel

خرائط ‪Google‬‏‏

 

[jamjim]

11:14
Defence cross examination
Zoe Braithwaite is now being cross examined by defence barrister Mark Fenhalls QC.

The witness said the closest she got to the male on the Coppice was 3m (10ft) and the furthest away was around 150ft.

Mr Fernhall then refers the jury to her statement where she describes her eye sight.

Mrs Braithwaite said she wears varifocal glasses for driving.

In her statement, she said: “My sight from anything beyond 15ft can be affected if I don’t wear my glasses.

“I’m not sure I did have them on that day.”

Lindsay Birbeck murder trial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[Rosegold68]

We can't say that, we know nothing of his appearance and height, bar a blurry CCTV picture.

the defendant was 16 at the time not 20-25 though

 

[jamjim]

11:18
Police form quesions
Defence barrister Mr Fenhalls then asks Mrs Braithwaite about the part on the police form where she was asked if she ‘felt vulnerable’.

Mrs Braithwaite replied on the form saying “don’t know”.

The witness then explains she did not feel vulnerable at the time filling out the form on August 20.

Lindsay Birbeck murder trial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[jamjim]

11:23
Zoe Braithwaite's description of the male
Zoe Braithwaite is asked about her description of the male as 20 to 25 years old and between 6ft and 6ft 2ins.

Mr Fenhalls said: “What was it about the figure that made you think he was 20 to 25?”

She replied: “His height, the way he was dressed.”

Lindsay Birbeck murder trial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[Smccat]

There's the not being able to get hold of the police thing again. I fully understand and sympathise with the resourcing issues and cuts previously discussed but its worse than I personally (very fortunately) realised. I didn't know that 101 was centralised nationally. I naively thought that every county had their own.

 

[jamjim]

11:26
Upside down 'V' on trainers
Police visited Mrs Braithwaite on August 27, 2019 to have a face to face conversation.

The jury were told that in her statement she said the male’s trainers had an ‘upside down V’ and were blue.

Lindsay Birbeck murder trial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[Mommysleuth11]

I sadly dont think its damning testimony from the witness. MOO

 

[SpursGyal]

the defendant was 16 at the time not 20-25 though

Yes, but she has made an estimate based on his appearence, some people look far older than their actual age.

 

[SpursGyal]

11:30am

While walking over Peel Park, Mrs Braithwaite tells the jury there is a line of wooded trees blocking off the path that the lone male was walking on as the paths, which were running pararell, had seperated.

She said she did not think anymore of the man at the time.

Mr Fenhalls said at the point where the paths rejoined, point 5 of the map, Mrs Braithwaite glanced back to see if she could see the lone male again, and she could.

Mr Fenhalls is now questioning what she had said in her original statement.

He said in her original statement the man had pulled up and looked almost startled - with no mention of her running.

Mrs Braithwaite says again he pulled up as if he had been running.

After getting to the car park, Mr Fenhalls asks if she saw anyone else, apart from two Asian lads.

She said no.



DAY FIVE: Lindsay Birbeck trial continues

 

[jamjim]

11:34
'Pulled up short, almost startled'
Defence barrister Mr Fenhalls refers Zoe Braithwaite to her earlier description to the jury of the male ‘pulling up as if he had been running’.

This was from the time when he was around 120m away to around 50m away on the Coppice path.

He then refers to her police statement where she says: “So while I can’t say what his original pace was at that point, what I can say for sure is that as I turned my head to glance at him he pulled up short, almost startled when I turned to look.”

When asked about the difference in her description and no mention of the male running in her statement, Mrs Braithwaite said: “He pulled up as if he had been running. He couldn’t have covered that ground unless he had run.”

Mr Fenhalls asked if she then saw anyone else apart from ‘two Asian lads’ and she said ‘no’.

Lindsay Birbeck murder trial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[Sally4x]

the defendant was 16 at the time not 20-25 though

She can’t be sure she had her glasses on though!

 

[SpursGyal]

11:33am

The cross examining ends by Mr Fenhalls.

11:33am

Mr Fenhalls asked if at any stage was Mrs Braithwate shown any trainers by police.

She said yes, but none matched the description she had given.


DAY FIVE: Lindsay Birbeck trial continues

 

[LancashireLad]

She can’t be sure she had her glasses on though!

Im sure it was him stalking about up there looking for a victim but this defence barrister is good and has just ripped her a new one. Feel sorry for her

 

[Smccat]

Mark Fenhall's questioning suggests she didn't try hard enough at finding a police officer at the search and implies that "filling in a web form" makes it all sound less urgent to him.

She may have clicked "don't know" because she was rushing or because she thought it may ask more questions. Whatever the reason for that answer, if you felt as uneasy as she said she did the answer would be always be YES on a form or not.

 

[SpursGyal]

20 Minute Break.