Megan Newborough: Killer showed calculated planning, jury told

The court heard Megan Newborough was "a genuinely well-liked, gregarious but responsible young woman"

A killer showed "calculated planning" to cover his tracks after he strangled a young woman to death, a court has been told.

Ross McCullam is accused of murdering Megan Newborough, 23, before dumping her body in a remote rural area.

The 30-year-old has admitted Ms Newborough's manslaughter but denies murder.

He told police he "lost control" when he attacked her in his home in Coalville.

A trial at Leicester Crown Court heard Mr McCullam and Ms Newborough, colleagues at Ibstock Brick in Ibstock, had been in a short relationship before they met at his house in Windsor Close on the night of Friday 6 August last year.

'Lay a false trail'

John Cammegh KC, prosecuting, told the jury Ms Newborough, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was strangled by Mr McCullam who then cut her throat with a carving knife to "make sure" she was dead.

He told the court Mr McCullam lived with his parents who were out when he attacked Ms Newborough and shortly after killing her, he texted his mother to say he had changed his mind about earlier plans to go for a beer with a friend.

Mr Cammegh said: "That was the first of several bogus messages sent to deliberately lay a false trail.

"He was effectively creating a false alibi in advance of police inquiries, making out that he had remained indoors all evening."

The prosecutor said the defendant then texted Ms Newborough to tell her she was "amazing" while her body was in his front room.

Mr Cammegh said Mr McCullam bundled his victim's body into her Citroen C3 and drove to Charley Road, near Woodhouse Eaves, where he dumped her over a wall into undergrowth.

On the way, the court heard, he had thrown her iPhone into bushes in Hermitage Road, Coalville.

Mr Cammegh said: "We suggest it was for no other reason than to ensure that her body couldn't be found via her phone.

"You might also think that by throwing away her phone he was attempting to lay a false trail to distance himself from her disappearance."

(L-R) Ross McCullam, prosecutor John Cammegh, defence barrister Kerim Fuad and judge Philip Head

The court heard Mr McCullam, who did not have a driving licence, then abandoned Ms Newborough's car in a leisure centre car park in Loughborough.

The jury were shown car park CCTV footage of him changing his own clothes and dumping them, with Ms Newborough's blood-stained clothes, in bins.

Mr Cammegh said: "We say, clear evidence of his calculated planning from the very start, packing clean clothes before he left home in order to distance himself from Megan's murder. Given what he had just done, you may think that this would have required exceptional presence of mind."

The jury were told CCTV footage then showed Mr McCullam walking into the town centre and hailing a cab to take him back to Coalville.

Mr Cammegh added: "The defendant asked to be dropped some distance from Windsor Close, presumably not to attract attention from the neighbours or so he did not have to disclose his true address."

The trial continues.

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