'Man admitted murdering Becky Godden and led police to her body'

A man confessed to police that he had murdered a young sex worker and then took officers to where he had buried her naked body, a court has heard.

Christopher Halliwell, 52, admitted he had taken Becky Godden, then aged 20, from the streets of Swindon in Wiltshire, had sex with her and then strangled her.

Bristol Crown Court heard that Miss Godden's skeletal remains were recovered from a field in Gloucestershire in March 2011 after Halliwell had taken police to the location.

The jury of six men and six women listened as Nicholas Haggan QC, prosecuting, opened the Crown's case against Halliwell.

He told them: "What happened to Rebecca Godden? We, the prosecution, say the short answer to that question is that she was murdered.

"Her naked body was buried in a clandestine grave in a field which might be described as in the middle of nowhere," he said.

"You might conclude that it was plain Rebecca was murdered.

"But secondly, this defendant, Christopher Halliwell, confessed to the police that between 2003 and 2005 - he couldn't be sure of the date - he had taken a girl from the streets of Swindon.

"He told the police he had sex with her and then he killed her by strangling her. He told the police he stripped the girl of her clothes and concealed her naked body.

"Not only that but the defendant took the police to the location."