Man accused of murdering former Boston woman and leaving her body 'lied', jury told (cloned)

A West Bromwich delivery driver who allegedly murdered a former Boston woman in the back of a van has been accused of telling lies to a jury.

The semi-naked body of Shara Millar was found on a pavement in Woodburn Road in Smethwick shortly after 6.10am on August 11 last year.

She had been strangled and had suffered neck fractures and injuries to her head consistent with coming into contact with a hard surface.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday (May 13) trial judge Michael Chambers KC told the members of the jury it was up to them to decide whether defendant Tanveer Singh had lied about what happened in the van, based on the evidence they had heard.

Prosecutor Rachel Brand KC claimed the 32-year-old had not spoken the truth when he told them that he had put Ms Millar on the pavement in the hope that she would regain consciousness, and that he knew that she was already dead at that point.

In his summing up Judge Chambers said the prosecution had to make the jury sure that a ‘deliberate act of squeezing’ her neck had caused the death of the 41-year-old minutes after Singh picked her up in Babington Road on the Handsworth/Smethwick boundary.

Singh, of Leopard Lane, Lyng, claimed Ms Millar had agreed to allow him to apply pressure to her neck and claimed she sustained bruises to her head and face when she tripped over and fell in the back of the van.

He also told the jury he was ashamed of his actions and said the incident happened after a night out during which he had consumed cocaine, rum and cola.

The jury also heard that Ms Millar was found with her clothing and handbag on the ground next to her by a worker arriving at a commercial unit on the opposite side of the road.

Singh, who grew up in Norfolk, denies murder.

The trial continues.