James Bourne-Arton KC, leading Marte Alnaes, secures conviction in complex murder case where pathologists had not been able to ascertain the cause of death.

The trial, which started on the 4^th of August 2025, concluded on the 28^th of August at which point the Defendant was unanimously convicted of murder. 

The Victim’s naked body had been found in the shed in the Defendant’s backyard on the 23^rd of December 2024, having been last seen alive on the 14^th of December together with the Defendant near his home address. Despite a thorough examination by Dr Jenkins, the pathologist instructed on behalf of the Crown, she was unable to find a probable cause of death, but highlighted several possible causes of death, including asphyxia.   Due to the Deceased’s documented alcohol abuse and previous seizures, the pathologists could also not exclude the possibility that she had died from a seizure.

Initially the Defendant denied any knowledge of the body in his shed and offered no explanation for the presence of her clothes in a bin in his yard.

The prosecution were able to draw together several strands of circumstantial evidence that satisfied the jury that they could safely exclude the possibility that the deceased died from a seizure and that they could be sure the Defendant was guilty of murder.

The Defendant was sentenced on the 29^th of August to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years. 

James Bourne-Arton KC and Marte Alnaes were instructed by Rebecca Macaulay-Addison, Specialist Prosecutor for CPS North West’s Complex Casework Unit.

Christopher Barlow: Man murdered woman before hiding body in shed – BBC News

Authors

James Bourne-Arton KC

Call 2001 | Silk 2024

Marte Alnaes

Call 2018

Related areas

Crime

---