Megan Newborough: Mum of accused gives evidence in murder trial

The court heard Megan Newborough was "a happy soul, beautiful inside and out"

The mother of a man accused of murder has given evidence in court.

Megan Newborough's body was found by police dumped over a wall in a remote spot close to Woodhouse Eaves, in Leicestershire, in August last year.

Ross McCullam has admitted manslaughter but denies murdering the 23-year-old at his family home in Coalville.

Linda McCullam told Leicester Crown Court she "didn't get any suggestion of anything" when she saw her son on the night of Ms Newborough's death.

The jury has heard Mr McCullam, 30, strangled the deceased, with whom he had been in a short relationship, within minutes of her arriving at his home earlier on 6 August.

He is then said to have repeatedly cut her throat to ensure she was dead before using her own car to dump her body and mobile phone.

Mrs McCullam said later that night, she had spoken to her son for 10 minutes before he went to bed.

"It was just normal. I didn't get any suggestion of anything," she said.

"He said Meg had come round and that she had liked the house. That was all."

'Marks on the wall'

Mrs McCullam - who gave evidence behind a screen so she did not have to see her son - said she discovered a damp patch on the living room carpet after she had returned that evening from a party with her husband.

"It was just wet," she said.

"I asked him what had happened and he said he had spilt some coffee.

"There were also marks on the wall."

The court previously heard the pair met at Leicestershire-based company Ibstock Brick, where Ms Newborough worked in human resources.

Graham Fyson, Mr McCullam's manager at Ibstock Brick, told the court he had become increasingly concerned about his behaviour in the days before Ms Newborough's death.

He said the day she died, he had decided he was going to contact the company's personnel department about Mr McCullam, but he was going to think about it over the weekend.

Ms Newborough, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, was described as "a happy soul, beautiful inside and out" by Mr Fyson, who said Mr McCullam was "a lovely lad for 99% of the time when he was taking his medication" for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The trial continues.