BBC News Online: UK

Driver accused over woman's death

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.

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.