Driver accused over woman's death

The mystery woman's body was found here 21 years ago

A retired lorry driver goes on trial on Friday accused of the murder of an unidentified woman whose body was found more than 20 years ago in a Kent forest.

Harry Pennells, 75, of Ticehurst, East Sussex, is charged with murdering the woman in Bedgebury Forest, near Cranbrook, Kent, between 18 and 24 October 1979.

Poster appeals failed to help identify the victim

The woman, who was aged between 25 and 35, has never been identified despite repeated appeals by police.

Detectives believe she had no fixed address and was a regular hitchhiker, possibly coming from the north of England. It was also thought she may have been a prostitute operating from the Spitalfields area of central London.

The dead woman was 5ft 11ins, had light brown hair, hazel eyes and prominent teeth.

When she was killed she was wearing a black polo-neck jumper, a black and white floral-patterned dress and a yellow blouse.

Mr Pennells was arrested in January last year following a new investigation by Kent Police, called Operation Raft.

The trial, at Maidstone Crown Court, is expected to last several weeks and the prosecution are expected to rely heavily on DNA evidence.