Found Deceased UK - Lindsay Birbeck, 47, Accrington, 12 Aug 2019 *Arrest* #4

[Alyce]

2:53pm
"You will remember the evidence.

"You will remember witnesses seeing a young man pulling a blue wheelie bin.

"You will remember to any witness this would seem strange.

"But to you, this is an image of the defendant pulling the wheelie bin down the road with literally a dead weight inside.

"And moments before he ran across the road with a wheelie bin behind.

"Lindsay Birbeck's body was inside this wheelie bin, and she was put in there, treated like rubbish, into the wheelie bin she went.

"Covered in vegetation from Hillock Vale.

"It is important that a fair trial takes place and this is why you are here.

"We urge you to put emotion and sympathy to one side.

"You must not convict the defendant because you feel sorry for Lindsay Birbeck's family.

"We also ask you to take into consideration the defendant's special needs - this is not a free pass for him and this does not mean he is not guilty.



Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial - teenager will NOT give evidence as case against him concludes

 

[Kikicatfood]

It’s a ‘not guilty’ on both charges for me.

 

[Kikicatfood]

Duplicated.

 

[Jartykarate]

I couldn’t convict him of murder or manslaughter based on the evidence presented.

 

[Alyce]

"Monday August 12, for Lindsay Birbeck, was a normal sort of day.

"According to her daughter, Sarah, she had been upbeat and positive for the last two or three months.

"They went shopping together.

"Sarah and her boyfriend were invited for tea.

"There was nothing out of the ordinary here.



"At 2.20pm a young man with a light grey tracksuit was spotted walking down Burnley Road with his hands in his pockets.

"What was on his mind at that time?

"You know he continued to walk onto Burnley Road and at 2.27pm up in the direction of The Coppice before he reached the Whitakers Arms pub.

This is a route that has become familiar to you.

"Less than a week ago you heard from Zoe Braithwaite - the first civilian witness to give evidence.

The prosecution say her evidence is important in this case.

"You have the defendant heading in the same direction as her at 2.27pm

"At 3.44pm you have Zoe Braithwaite heading to the Coppice to get her steps in.

"And while on the Coppice her sixth sense kicked in. There was that feeling of unease.

"The male was walking really slowly, making long slow strides.

"Did she strike you as hysterical?

"She was a lone female on the coppice where she had been many times before, and she saw a lone male who looked out of place in the woods at that time of year, with a hooded jacket with the hood up.

"She said she felt wary.


"She went around the corner and down Cardiac Hill, and saw the male now about 15m away from her. She did not see him run.

"What had he been up to. What was his business?

"He had made up the gap between them somehow.

"She said he pulled up as if he had been running.

"She feared the worse.

"She walked down that hill as fast as she could and was hoping to see someone heading her way.

"However the act of turning round startled her would be attacker as when she turned around again her had gone.

"In short - the prosecution say he had been rumbled.





Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial - teenager will NOT give evidence as case against him concludes

 

[SpursGyal]

Thanks for taking over Alyce.. Who said it was a good idea to have kids...

 

[Alyce]

Zoe Braithwaite evidence important'
Mr McLachlan said Zoe Braithwaite’s evidence is “importance in the case”.

She went for a walk in the Coppice at the time of Lindsay’s disappearance and the defendant heading in that direction.

The prosecutor said: “While on the Coppice her sixth sense kicked in did it not? There was that feeling. A male was walking really slowly, making long slow strides.

“Did she strike you as a hysterical woman as being scared of everything and anything. We submit she wasn’t.

“At that stage she remained a lone female on the Coppice, a place she had been many times before. The impression was there was a lone male behaving suspiciously close to her and that he didn’t really belong in that setting.

“She said in he words he was ‘instantly wary and looked out of place in the woods that time of year’.”


( I think the reporting is a bit muddled here - ZB said she was wary , not the man she saw )

He had been rumbled'
Mr McLachlan is taking the jury through Zoe Braithwaite’s evidence about the distances between the male during different times on the Coppice.

At one point he was around 100-120m away from her but as she went down Cardiac Hill he was much closer but she did not see him run.

The prosecutor said: “What had he been up to. What was his business?

“He had made up the gap between them somehow. She said he pulled up as if he had been running.

“She feared the worse. She walked down that hill as fast as she could and was hoping to see someone heading her way.

“However the act of turning round startled her would be attacker as when she turned around again her had gone.

“In short, the prosecution say he had been rumbled.”



Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[Alyce]

15:09
Short stoppage
There has been a short stoppage while the court staff address a small technical issue in court 10.

The Judge has left the room briefly while it is fixed.

 

[Princessconsuela]

IMO I still think he acted alone. However the evidence given means there is some reasonable doubt so I don't think he will be charged with murder.

 

[Whitehall 1212]

I still think he will get guilty. Possibly Manslaughter over murder.

I would have to go with murder, based on the force used for the fatal injury to be caused.....intent to cause serious harm!

I've got him at the scene and alone, with the CCTV evidence and ZB's statement.

 

[Alyce]

15:11
Retrial resuming
The issue has now been resolved and the retrial is resuming.

 

[Alyce]

Zoe Braithwaite feared the worst, did she not.

"She described how she was so concerned that she did not wish to run.

"She hoped she'd see someone or something heavy that she could use to defend herself.

Obviously the attacker did not like the fact he had been rumbled.

"She gave his height as 6ft to 6ft 2. The defendant is smaller than that.

"She also gave an estimated age of 20, the defendant is younger than that.

"She described the grey tracksuit and black trainers.

"The defendant was on the quiet and lonely coppice.

"The prosecution's case is that there were not two men on the coppice targeting lonely females, there was one, and he is in the dock today

"It is the prosecution submission that she had a lucky escape and her sixth sense kicking in was absolutely correct.

"And within minutes of Zoe Braithwaite arriving home, another female would be targeted on the Coppice and this time it would prove fatal and you all know her name.


Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial - teenager will NOT give evidence as case against him concludes

 

[Jartykarate]

I would have to go with murder, based on the force used for the fatal injury to be caused.....intent to cause serious harm!

I've got him at the scene and alone, with the CCTV evidence and ZB's statement.

It either has to be murder by the defendant or a person unknown, I don’t think manslaughter was ever a viable option given the injuries.

 

[Jartykarate]

Strange how the trainers changed from blue to black and it wasn’t really picked up on.

 

[Alyce]

Zoe Braithwaite had a lucky escape'
Mr McLachlan said: “Her attacker didn’t like the idea of his victim being alert to her presence.

“She gave an estimate of his height but [the defendant] is much smaller than that.

“She estimated he was 20 to 25 but didn’t see his face.

“She said he had a charcoal top and bottoms on with his hood up with black trainers and had hands in his pockets. Where have we seen that before?

“At that point [the defendant] would be on the quiet, peaceful and in reality lonely Coppice.

“The prosecution case is there were not two young males on the Coppice with charcoal tops, black trainers, hands in pockets with hoods up targeting lonely females.

“The prosecution case is there is one and he is in the dock today.

“Zoe Braithwaite had a lucky escape.”

Fatal consequences'
Mr McLachlan told the jury: “Within minutes of Zoe Braithwaite arriving home another female would be targeted on the Coppice and this time with fatal consequences.”






Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial at Preston Crown Court - updates

 

[Alyce]

Strange how the trainers changed from blue to black and it wasn’t really picked up on.

Mr Defence Counsel mentioned it already and for sure, he will be on it again in his closing

 

[Alyce]

Lindsay killed between 4.10pm and 4.20pm

Mr McLachlan said: “It is the prosecution case Lindsay Birbeck must have been killed on the Coppice sometime after 4.10pm but before 4.20pm, the estimate time of arrival of the Bibby’s.”

He told the jury Judith Bibby saw a ‘shiny red’ garment on a fence post but couldn’t say it was a jacket. She also heard a voice and ‘thought it was kids’.


Young male on the prowl'
Mr McLachlan said: “The prosecution say it was a lone male, on the Coppice, on the prowl, targeting young females.

“Who is it? The prosecution say [the defendant].

“We will never know the precise way she died”.

The jury were told that Lindsay died from neck injuries and there was ‘severe compressive force’ used causing ‘crushing damage to the entire larynx’.

The prosecutor said this could have been caused by ‘stamping or kicking’ and there was also attempt at ‘partial dismemberment’.


Mystery male is defendant'
Mr McLachlan said: “Was there a mystery man who killed her which the defendant asserts or is the mystery man a creation of the defendant’s limited imagination?

“The defendant can’t or perhaps won’t tell you with whom this mystery man really is.

“The prosecution say he can’t because there is no mystery man. It’s him.”





Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial at Preston Crown Court - updates



( that is such a narrow window of time, it is frightening )

 

[sunflower22]

Strange how the trainers changed from blue to black and it wasn’t really picked up on.

The defence did mention them today, saying the blue trainers as described by ZB was not recovered from his home.

 

[Alyce]

"The prosecution case is that Lindsay Birbeck must have been killed on the coppice at sometime after 4.10pm but not after 4.20pm, which was the arrival of the Bibby's who were walking their dog, Ralph.

"Judith Bibby saw a ‘shiny red’ garment on a fence post but couldn’t say it was a jacket. She also heard a voice and ‘thought it was kids’.

"And it seems as though she was right about that too.

"You heard about the message sent from Sharon Griffiths which never arrived and was never read.

"That's because she had been killed by this time.




Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial - teenager will NOT give evidence as case against him concludes

 

[SpursGyal]

The window of opportunity is a big thing for me, IMO he was the only one there at the time.