Yolande Waddington: Witness tells of 1966 murder find

Yolande Waddington was found dead in 1966

An ex-farm worker has told a court how he found the blood-stained clothes of a teenage nanny in a Berkshire barn nearly 46 years ago.

Yolande Waddington's body was later discovered in a ditch in the village of Beenham in October 1966.

Alfred Woodley, now 85, told Reading Crown Court he reported the discovery to his boss, Peter Jagger, who was also the teenager's employer.

David Burgess, 64, denies murdering Miss Waddington.

The jury heard Mr Jagger discovered his nanny's naked body, tied up with a jumper knotted around her face after she had been stabbed and strangled.

Genetic match

On Monday, the court heard that Mr Burgess had confessed twice to Miss Waddington's murder while in jail for the murder of two nine-year-old girls in the village, in 1967.

He was arrested last year after DNA tests on items at the scene matched his genetic profile, the jury heard.

Defending Mr Burgess, Joel Bennathan QC asked the jury to disregard the conviction his client had for killing the nine-year-olds.

He also said there was doubt over the DNA evidence taken from items, including Miss Waddington's headband found at the scene, was a match to his client.

He said the samples were tiny - equivalent to a thousandth of a grain of salt - and cross contamination was likely in the 45 years since the killing.

Yolande was a nanny who had moved to Beenham a few days before she was murdered.

She was last seen alive at the Six Bells pub on the evening of Friday 28 October that year.

The trial continues.