Lindsay Birbeck murder retrial - what we know so far

Here’s what we know so far:

• Monday August 12 2019, Lindsay Birbeck went shopping with her daughter, Sarah.
• After arranging to see each other later that night, Mrs Birbeck dropped Sarah off at home.
• At 2.24pm on August 12, CCTV shows, for the first time, the defendant walking up Whitewell Road towards Burnley Road in Accrington.
• At about 2.27 pm the defendant was observed walking up Burnley Road in the direction of the Whitakers Arms pub where he turned right towards The Coppice.
• A 3.09pm, Mrs Birbeck sent a message to her best friend Sharon Griffiths.
• Between 3.20pm and 3.41pm Mrs Birbeck also exchanged messages with Rob Chaplow (a man from Kendal that she had been seeing).
• Just after 4pm Lindsay Birbeck was observed walking down Burnley Road in the direction of Accrington town centre by a CCTV camera at 340 Burnley Road. She was wearing her purple Rab jacket which had a red lining.
• The last sighting of her alive was at 4.06pm from a CCTV camera at 256 Burnley Road.

• Sometime after 4.15 pm, Judith and Martin Bibby went to The Coppice to walk their dog and Mrs Bibby noticed what looked like a red anorak hanging on the fence on the path side.
• A message was sent from Sharon Griffiths to Mrs Birbeck's phone via Whatsapp at around 4.30pm – it was never opened.
• Just before 6pm Sarah Birbeck and Brandon Lonsdale arrived at Mrs Birbeck’s home on Burnley Road, where Sarah Birbeck tried the door without success.
• A 6.19pm, the defendant was observed on CCTV crossing over Burnley Road from the Whitakers Arms side and walking past 301 Burnley Road in the direction of Whitewell Road, which runs alongside Accrington cemetery. He had his hood up, and his tracksuit jacket partially unzipped. The cord from his tracksuit bottoms appeared to be undone and he appeared to have wet knees.
• At 6.49pm, the defendant was observed on CCTV emerging from brambles at the rear of Isothane on Newhouse Road.
• At 6.55pm he was then observed on Whitewell Road walking onto Burnley Road but this time with a black rucksack on his back.
• At 6.58pm, on Burnley Road the defendant turned right before reaching the Whitakers Arms, heading in the direction of The Coppice.
• At 7.48 pm (50 minutes later), the defendant emerged from the direction of the grassed area between 330 and 332 Burnley Road, and still had the rucksack with him. He crossed Burnley Road and entered the cemetery. He then exited the cemetery side gate onto Whitewell Road.
• He then carried on walking away from Burnley Road but came back at 8.28pm, when he was observed walking up Whitewell Road towards Burnley Road, but this time as well as a rucksack, he was pulling a blue wheelie bin.
• He continued up Burnley Road and walked up the road towards The Whitakers Arms and beyond.
• At the same time, a man, Anthony Dewhurst, was walking up Burnley Road on the same side as The Whitaker’s Arms pub with his dog and saw a man with a wheelie bin - according to Mr Dewhurst it sounded hollow as he was pulling it and was making a rattling sound on the pavement.
• The man then turned between 330 and 332 Burnley Road towards the Coppice.
• A 11.18pm, the defendant, who was still carrying a rucksack, walked from the area behind 330 and 332 Burnley Road and then down Burnley Road, crossed over Burnley Road at the cemetery entrance and entered the cemetery.
• Shortly afterwards he was observed on Whitewell Road walking away from Burnley Road and no longer had the blue wheelie bin.

• Just after midnight, Mr Birbeck phoned the police to report Mrs Birbeck missing, and a missing persons appeal was launched.
• On August 16 at 1.45pm, the defendant is seen on CCTV walking up Whitewell Road towards Burnley Road towards and then past the Whitakers Arms. He has a tracksuit on and his hood down. He turned right on Burnley Road in between 330 and 332 and walked up the alley.
• Around 26 minutes later, the defendant was seen walking down the side of the Whitakers Arms and crossing Burnley Road before walking down Burnley Road in the direction of Whitewell Road where he enters Accrington cemetery, walks towards the middle of the cemetery and turns left before walking across the grass towards the area where Lindsay Birbeck’s body would later be recovered from.
• On August 17, at 1.48pm, the defendant walked along Whitewell Road in the direction of Burnley Road before turning right on Burnley Road before the Whitakers Arms.
• He was observed by several witnesses pulling a wheelie bin which appeared to be heavy.
• At 2.33pm the defendant is seen on camera pulling the blue wheelie bin down the side of the Whitakers Arms and across Burnley Road before entering the cemetery.
• At 3.50pm the defendant was observed walking away from the main cemetery building towards Whitewell Road, without the wheelie bin.
• On August 18 at about 7pm Christine Alderson saw a tissue with some blood on in the cemetery while walking her dog.

• On August 19, the defendant was back at the cemetery.
• Daniel Westell was on his off-road motorbike participating in a search for Mrs Birbeck and noticed a blue wheelie bin inside the bushes near the back of the cemetery.
• On August 20 the defendant was back at the cemetery in the vicinity of the body deposition site.
• At about 9pm, Gemma Hudson, Leanne Singleton and Sarah Thistlethwaite were searching the cemetery close to the railway track for Mrs Birbeck and saw the blue wheelie bin, which they said had a dark stain on the outside. The police were called.
• On August 21 at around 9.10am Patricia Stevenson approaches Luke Hillman who works at the cemetery to tell him she had seen a blue wheelie bin in the trees. He tells his colleagues.
• At 9.45pm, cemetery worker John Jones was returning from dropping off colleagues at a different cemetery (Dill Hall Lane) when he saw a police car on Burnley Road and told the police officers about the blue wheelie bin.
• Police advised John Jones that the bin could be moved, so it was taken to Dill Hall Cemetery.
• Lindsay Birbeck's funeral took place in Hapton
• On August 23 the defendant was seen again walking down Whitewell Road away from the cemetery and away from Burnley Road.
• August 24 at 1.34pm the defendant was again observed walking up Whitewell Road towards Burnley Road, before entering the cemetery and walking in the general direction of the body deposition site.
• At 2.20pm he was observed walking down Whitewell Road away from Burnley Road.
• At about 7pm, Morgan Parkinson discovers a body. The police are called, and it is later confirmed that the body is that of Lindsay Birbeck.
• A post-mortem examination reveals Mrs Birbeck died from substantial neck injuries.