Body in boot for days, court told

The cause of Nicola West's death was strangulation, court told

A hospice worker's body lay in a boot for two days before being left outside a police station, a court has heard.

Nicola West, 34, of Little Blakenham, Suffolk, was strangled after being raped, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

Robert McCarry, then 35, and Paul Waters, then 28, both of Ipswich, deny murder in February this year.

A post-mortem examination carried out by a Home Office pathologist established the woman's cause of death as strangulation.

Detectives began investigating after Mr McCarry and Mr Waters drove to Ipswich police station in February and told police that Miss West had died.

Prosecutors say Miss West was killed because she threatened to accuse McCarry of rape.

Jurors heard that Miss West had met McCarry in a pub before she died and the pair had become close.

The hearing continues.