Jury told accused was seen with ‘very heavy’ bin
JURORS were told about the movements of the accused in the days after Lindsay’s disappearance.
Statements were read from witnesses in the area of Burnley Road in Accrington and described the defendant ‘pulling and pushing’ the ‘really heavy’ blue wheelie bin into Accrington Cemetery on
August 17, 2019. He was ‘struggling to control the bin’ and ‘immediately stood out and looked out of place’, Preston Crown Court heard.
At one point the defendant was seen to ‘sit on top of the bin’ and ‘look towards the bushes and the railway line’.
Natalie Bartholomew said she was walking down Burnley Road with her partner Nick Haworth and saw a male pulling a wheelie bin with both hands.
Ms Bartholomew said the male didn’t say anything but she thanked him for letting them past.
She also commented to her partner ‘how strange it was for such a young lad to be pulling a bin down there’.
Ms Bartholomew said he was ‘dragging the bin behind him and still pulling it with both hands and it appeared to be heavy’.
In Mr Haworth’s statement, he said the male pulling the wheelie bin was ‘looking shifty’ and it was ‘out of context and bizarre’.
The jury were told how Stephen Greenwood was working at a house on Burnley Road between 2.30pm and 2.45pm. In his statement he said he spotted a male pulling a wheelie bin on the pavement in the direction of the cemetery and stop at the junction of Whitewell Road.
Mr Greenwood said the male changed his grip and manoeuvred the bin onto an ‘uneven surface’.
He said: “Considering how he did this I believe there was weight in the bin.”
Elaine Hewitt and Patricia Lee also described in their statements seeing a male ‘pulling and pushing’ a wheelie bin into the cemetery.
Detective Sergeant David Bowler said Lancashire Constabulary started a missing from home investigation after Lindsay was reported missing and she was classed as ‘high risk’.
The search concentrated on the Coppice and included police officers, police dogs and handlers, mountain rescue, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service and an urban search and rescue team.
Police were also tasked with finding property that Lindsay was known to have with her.
The trial continues