TAXI DRIVER ‘STRANGLED HOOKER BECKY AFTER SEX’
She was his second victim, court is told Body undiscovered in ditch for years
A MAN confessed to the murder of a young sex worker then took officers to where he had buried her naked body, a court has heard.
Christopher Halliwell, 52, admitted he had taken Becky Godden from the streets of Swindon, Wilts, had sex with her and then strangled her.
Halliwell has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 20-year-old and is defending himself at Bristol Crown Court.
The court heard that Miss Godden’s skeletal remains were recovered from a field in Gloucestershire in March 2011 after Halliwell had taken police to the location.
Prosecutor Nicholas Haggan QC said: “What happened to Rebecca Godden? We, the prosecution, say the short answer to that question is that she was murdered.
“Her naked body was buried in a clandestine grave in a field which might be described as in the middle of nowhere.
“You might conclude it was plain Rebecca was murdered.
“But secondly, Christopher Halliwell confessed to the police that between 2003 and 2005 – he couldn’t be sure of the date – he had taken a girl from the streets of Swindon.
“He told the police he had sex with her and then he killed her by strangling her.
“He told the police he stripped the girl of her clothes and concealed her naked body.
“Not only that but the defendant took the police to the location. Had the defendant not told the police where he’d buried that girl from the streets of Swindon, you might think that Rebecca’s remains to this day would be in that field in the middle of nowhere.”
Mr Haggan told the court that Halliwell had also murdered Sian O’Callaghan, a woman who disappeared after a night out with friends at the Suju nightclub in Swindon in March 2011.
He pleaded guilty to murdering Miss O’Callaghan and was jailed for life.
“What happened to Sian? She too was murdered,” Mr Haggan told the jury.
Semi-naked
He added: “Her semi-naked body was found a few days after she disappeared. It was concealed by undergrowth in a remote location, not a great distance from the field where Rebecca’s body had been buried.
“What relevance is that, you might think? The short answer is that this young woman was murdered by this defendant, Christopher Halliwell. “How do we know that? We know that because he pleaded guilty to Sian’s murder and is currently serving a term of life imprisonment for that offence.”
Mr Haggan told jurors that the “last reliable sighting” of Miss Godden was in Swindon town centre in January 2003 – possibly January 3.
He said: “After that nothing more was heard from her. She made no contact with her family; she made no contact with any of the government and other agencies and financial institutions.
“She literally disappeared. She was just 20 years old.”
The court heard that Miss Godden’s parents, John Godden and Karen Edwards, separated when she was about six years old.
Mr Haggan said: “It is right to say Becky had a troubled adolescence.
“She became a heavy user of Class A drugs and, at some point during her early to mid-teens, she began earning a living as a sex worker operating in the Manchester Road area of Swindon.
“As is so often the case with people in her situation, her life became somewhat chaotic and contact with her parents became more sporadic.”
Despite her lifestyle, Miss Godden – known as Becky or Rebecca to friends and family – kept in contact with her family, especially on Mother’s Day and her birthday on April 4.
Mrs Edwards last saw her daughter on December 16, 2002, when she collected her following an appearance at Swindon Magistrates’ Court, the jury heard.
Having picked her up, Mrs Edwards took her to a friend’s house in Swindon.
Mr Haggan added: “She was the last member of Rebecca’s family to see her alive.
“No member of Becky’s family heard anything from her after that date.”
The court heard that Miss Godden did not make contact with her family on Mother’s Day in 2003, nor on her 21st birthday in April that year.
The trial continues.