Neighbour heard woman screaming and dialled 999, murder trial told
Two men are on trial accused of being involved in the murder of Reanne Coulson from Coventry
A woman whose body was found in a shallow woodland grave was heard screaming and crying for help by her killer's neighbour, who called 999, a jury has heard.
Warwick Crown Court was told the witness, who lived in a flat adjoining Mohammed Durnion's home, overheard the sudden and deliberate attack which killed Reanne Coulson.
Police attended the property minutes later, the court heard, and searched the property but did not find Ms Coulson's body, which is believed to have been hidden under a mattress.
Opening the case against Durnion, 42, on Tuesday, prosecutor Timothy Cray KC said Ms Coulson, 33, disappeared on May 21 last year after attending a support group at a Catholic Church.
Mr Cray told the jury of seven women and five men: "She was last seen by anyone outside this court room shortly before 10pm that Wednesday evening, when she attended a support group at St Mary's and St Benedict's Church, which is just to the east of Coventry city centre.
"She appeared well and was chatting to the staff who were present."
About an hour or so later, Mr Cray said, a man living in Paynes Lane, about 350 yards away from the church, heard a woman "screaming in fear" - the screams coming from Durnion's flat.
After the neighbour dialled 999 at 11.26pm, the court heard, police searched Durnion's address in Paynes Lane, but did not see Ms Coulson or her body inside the flat.
Telling jurors there was an "element of horror" to the evidence, Mr Cray alleged that Durnion had hidden Ms Coulson's body under a mattress from officers, who arrived within 12 minutes of the emergency call.
Mr Cray added: "Just over five and a half weeks later, on the 27th of June, Reanne's body was found. She was buried in a shallow grave in woodland."
Jurors were told the body of Ms Coulson, a sex worker who was known to take drugs, was found partially clothed.
Mr Cray said of the remains: "There was a strong smell of petrol and there were visible burn and soot injuries to the side of Reanne's face and body.
"The subsequent post-mortem examination found marks of injury to Reanne's head and neck.
"In the opinion of the pathologist who conducted the post-mortem, the head and neck injuries - bruising and the like - had been caused when Reanne was still alive.
"In contrast, the burn injuries to Reanne's face and side had been caused after her death, as if someone had tried to destroy that part of her body, or maybe her identity."
Highlighting issues for the jury which are in dispute, Mr Cray said of Durnion: "He agrees that he was the last person to see Reanne alive and also agrees that he buried her body in the woods.
"His case, which will be developed and explained by his counsel, is that he picked up Reanne that Wednesday evening and gave her money to buy drugs.
"He picked her up believing she was a sex worker but says that there was no sexual contact between them that night."
Jurors were told Durnion claims Ms Coulson became sick and appeared to have overdosed in his bedroom.
Fearing that he would be held responsible for her death, Durnion says, he put Reanne's body in a suitcase, drove to Binley Woods and then buried her.
Mr Cray said: "The prosecution case, put simply, is that that explanation is not true.
"Specifically, we say Durnion can't or won't face up to the central fact that he killed Reanne."
The Crown's KC said Ms Coulson was "screaming, crying for help to the extent that the neighbour called 999" while inside the flat.
Mr Cray said: "We say that the timing and circumstances suggest that this was a deliberate attack by a powerfully-built man, on a vulnerable and defenceless woman who he had taken back to his address.
"One of the circumstances to look at is how long they had been together in the flat. The evidence is that the attack began within a minute of the defendant arriving at the flat around 11.22pm.
"Is that really long enough to take drugs, get high, start arguing and overdose, or is that timing consistent with some sort of sudden, fatal attack?
"When the police arrived... Reanne was nowhere to be seen or heard. This was because by then it must be that Reanne was incapable of calling for help.
"She was dead or dying because of Mohammed Durnion's attack."
Police body-worn footage played to the jury showed two officers talking to Durnion at the door of his flat, as he allegedly fakes a mental health or drugs crisis.
Mr Cray said: "The police did not find her body because he hid her and then he threw the uniformed officers off the scent.
"We suggest that he was acting and knew exactly what he was doing, which was to cover up the fact that he had killed Reanne and hidden her body inside his flat."
The court was told Ms Coulson's body was found after Durnion became distressed on June 27 and told police he would take them to the body.
He took officers to a bridleway in the woods, made a comment about taking "stupid amounts" of cocaine, and said he had used a shovel to dig a hole.
Durnion's co-defendant Adam Moore, 39, of Marlcroft, Willenhall, Coventry, denies assisting an offender on May 22 by helping in the disposal of Ms Coulson's body.
The trial continues.