Two men 'abducted and murdered' Coventry teenager Nicola Payne in 1991

An 18-year-old mother was killed after being abducted as she made her way across a piece of waste ground in 1991, a court has heard.

Nicola Payne, whose body has never been found, is alleged to have been murdered by Nigel Barwell and his brother-in-law, Thomas O'Reilly.

Opening the Crown's case against the two men, who both deny murder, prosecutor Andrew Smith QC said Nicola was making what should have been a five-minute walk to her parents' address in Coventry.

Mr Smith told a jury at Birmingham Crown Court: "At about 12.15pm on Saturday the 14th of December 1991 Nicola Payne left her partner and baby son to walk to her parents' house. It was a familiar journey that should have taken only a matter of minutes.

"The route took her across a local piece of waste ground known as the Black Pad.

"It was a journey that she never completed. The prosecution case is that Nicola Payne was abducted as she walked across the waste ground.

"At some point thereafter she was was murdered and her body disposed of."

Jurors were told that Barwell, of Copperas Street, and O'Reilly, of Ribble Road, both Coventry, are now aged 51 but were both 27 in December 1991.