Penzance overdose victim 'hidden in improvised body bag'

The full cause of death of Cecilia Seddon could not be determined

A drug dealer injected his girlfriend with a cocktail of heroin and cocaine and then hid her body after she died of an overdose, a court has heard.

Cecilia Seddon, 32, was found dead at a property on Penare Road, Penzance, in April 2018, Truro Crown Court was told.

Clayton Hawkes, of Hayle, is accused of perverting the course of justice by hiding her body in a blue air bed cut open to form an "improvised body bag".

Mr Hawkes, 52, denies the charge and two counts of administering a poison.

Jurors were told Blaze Fisher, 25, of Redruth, had previously admitted perverting the course of justice by hiding Ms Seddon's body.

Prosecutor Peter Coombe said Mr Hawkes dealt drugs from his flat with Mr Fisher, while Ms Seddon was a drug user.

'Rotten smell'

Jurors heard Gavin Boyle went to a party at Mr Hawkes' home in mid April 2018 and was later asked if Mr Hawkes and Mr Fisher could move in with him.

After they moved in, Mr Boyle went back to Mr Hawkes' old flat and said he "could smell something rotten", but was told it was "rotting meat in the fridge" or "a dead rat".

The court heard Mr Hawkes' flat was searched for drugs by police on 18 April and he later told Mr Boyle he had hidden her body in it after she overdosed from an injection by him containing heroin and cocaine.

Mr Coombe said officers found the body on 19 April in the air bed hidden in the cavity of a double bed after Mr Boyle raised the alarm.

Ms Seddon's cause of death could not be determined because of decomposition and the men had destroyed evidence, he said.

In a police interview, a prepared statement from Mr Hawkes denied he had injected her.

The trial continues.