Murder accused Ian Bennett filmed dumping evidence, court told

Kerry Woolley was found dead in the bedroom of her flat

A "bully" boyfriend stabbed his partner in the neck before he was caught on his mother's dashcam footage dumping evidence, a murder trial has heard.

The body of Kerry Woolley, 38, was found on 12 July 2020 in the bedroom of her flat off Warwick Road, Solihull.

Ian Bennett, 38, who denies murder, was "possessive", the Crown said.

The court heard footage recovered from his mother's car showed him throwing a plastic bag in a canal, which the Crown argue was a large knife.

His mother, Lynda Bennett, 63, has been charged with assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice, after allegedly making a false witness statement.

Miss Woolley, a mother of two young children, "sustained 54 sharp-force injuries, the majority in her neck area", Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Jurors were told her 38-year-old boyfriend had researched the "best way to get revenge on a woman" before the alleged killing.

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Opening the case against the Bennetts on Tuesday, Caroline Goodwin QC told jurors a call that had been placed to the emergency services was made by Mr Bennett, "who had been standing outside the flat when he made the call".

She added the Crown "say that that call was nothing other than a pre-planned call, hours after he already knew that she was in fact dead".

Ms Goodwin said: "He had been a guest in her home the night before, they had only been going out for a month or so and he, say the Crown, on that Saturday night/Sunday morning, attacked her."

The prosecution said Mr Bennett attempted to "cover up" what he had done, before adding: "The destruction of that evidence was done with the willing assistance of his mother, Lynda Bennett."

She was to become "a willing participant in the disposal of that evidence, which so obviously tied her son to this offence, forever trying to eliminate evidence that would have assisted the police in the investigation", the court heard.

The prosecution said: "(Lynda's) car... is seen to stop adjacent to a canal bridge and the defendant Ian Bennett can be seen throwing something wrapped in a plastic bag into the canal.

"The Crown says this was evidence from the scene - a knife was in fact recovered from that location and was subsequently forensically connected to Kerry."

The Bennetts, both of Moordown Avenue, Solihull, deny all charges.

The trial continues.