Megan Newborough: Man strangled woman before cover-up, court hears

Megan Newborough's family said she "was the most generous, loving and caring person"

A man strangled a colleague, dumped her body then continued to text and call her phone to cover his tracks, a court has heard.

Megan Newborough, 23, was killed in August 2021 by Ross McCullam, who she met at work before embarking on a short relationship with him.

Leicester Crown Court heard her body was found in undergrowth.

Mr McCullam, 30, has admitted Ms Newborough's manslaughter but denies murdering her.

John Cammegh KC, prosecuting, said Ms Newborough first met Mr McCullam in late June last year at Leicestershire-based brick company Ibstock, where she worked in human resources.

Mr Cammegh said the pair had exchanged flirtatious messages and were in "a relationship of sorts" in the weeks leading up to Ms Newborough's death.

The court heard Ms Newborough, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, went to see Mr McCullam at his house in Windsor Close, Coalville, on 6 August 2021.

Mr Cammegh said while there, Mr McCullam attacked Ms Newborough with "great violence".

"First, he strangled her with his bare hands," he said.

"Following her death, Megan's body would be examined by a forensic pathologist. She concluded that 'pressure to the neck', or strangulation, was the cause of Megan's death."

The jury heard Mr McCullam told police after his arrest that he had cut his victim's throat with a knife to "make sure" she was dead.

A post-mortem examination found Ms Newborough had 14 neck wounds.

'Carefully calculated'

Mr McCullam, the court heard, bundled her body into her Citroen C3 and drove her to a remote spot before disposing of her body.

On the way, the jury was told he discarded her mobile phone but failed to turn it off.

Ms Newborough's brother was able to trace it to the area using a tracking app after the family raised the alarm the following day, the court heard.

Mr Cammegh said Mr McCullam denied murder because "he was incapable, either through a temporary loss of control or an abnormality of the mind, to form the intent to kill her or to do her really serious harm".

"Given that defence, you may wish to consider the relevance of the defendant's behaviour from the moment when he strangled Megan, throughout the night that followed and into the next day," he said.

"The crown's case is that the defendant embarked immediately upon a series of deliberate actions carefully calculated and carefully executed to cover up Megan's murder and his role in it."

This, the court heard, included leaving phone messages professing love and supposed concern for her.

Thousands of messages

Ms Newborough's body was found in the early hours of 8 August and her bloodstained car was located in a leisure centre car park in Loughborough, where the jury was told Mr McCullam had abandoned it.

Mr Cammegh told the jury Mr McCullam had been diagnosed with ADHD but had stopped taking medication for the condition in the weeks leading up to Ms Newborough's death.

The court was read some of the thousands of messages the defendant and victim exchanged before Ms Newborough died.

Messages showed they had arranged to meet on the weekend of Ms Newborough's death and the jury was told in the days leading up to the meeting Mr McCullam's texts took on "an increasingly obsessive sexualised tone".

Mr Cammegh said: "From time to time Ross McCullam just can't help himself from descending into vulgarity and banter that you may think is demeaning and disrespectful."

The trial continues.

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