Wheelie bin murder victim had begged police for help
A SCOTS mother of two made desperate pleas to police for help before being murdered in a frenzied hammer attack, a court has heard.
But Nicola Stevenson’s 101 call was not picked up and emails to a police officer went unanswered.
The body of the 39-year-old cancer survivor, from Edinburgh, was found five weeks later stuffed head first into a wheelie bin.
After her death, lodger Richard Canlin was said to have used her benefits to buy a snooker table and Xbox, visiting the same cashpoint to take money from her account.
He applied to a housing association to sign her flat over to him the day after murdering her, a court was told.
Canlin, then 41, invented an ‘ elaborate’ alibi when arrested two days after a dog walker found Miss Stevenson’s body in the bin in a park, Lewes Crown Court heard.
He had been living with Miss Stevenson as her lodger before she disappeared.
Yesterday, the court heard he told a friend: ‘She really f****** pushes, somebody will kill her some day.’
Miss Stevenson was described as a vulnerable woman who was only 4ft 9in tall. She had Russell-Silver syndrome, a form of dwarfism.
She needed a walking stick and used a mobility scooter to get around outside her home in Lewes, Sussex.
After telling a friend Canlin was ‘kicking off again’, Miss Stevenson used the non-emergency 101 number to call police on October 10 last year, the afternoon the Crown says she was murdered. The call was not answered.
Minutes later she emailed a woman police officer to beg for help. She wrote: ‘ Could you call me ASAP? Richard Canlin is getting abusive towards me as I want him out.’
When there was no response, she tried again. In a second email to the same officer, she wrote: ‘Could you call me ASAP please?’
Caroline Carberry, QC for the Crown, said Miss Stevenson’s body was found on November 13.
Miss Carberry told the court: ‘She had been killed in a brutal attack which left her with numerous skull and facial fractures and a fracture to her neck.’
She said that after Miss Stevenson disappeared Canlin told neighours she had ‘gone away to Scotland,’ adding: ‘He did not report her missing, he did not try to contact her. Instead, he made an application for the tenancy to be put in his name. He changed the electricity bill over to his name and used her bank card to buy a snooker table and an Xbox on her benefits.’
A claw hammer stained with Miss Stevenson’s blood and with Canlin’s DNA on the handle was discovered in a wheelie bin outside her flat, the court heard. Miss Carberry added: ‘In her bedroom, officers found blood splattered on to the ceiling, the walls and a radiator.’
Forensic examination revealed Miss Stevenson had been killed by repeated blows to the head, the court was told.
Miss Carberry said: ‘The minimum number is thought to be about 11.’ Canlin denies murder. The trial continues.