A judge has been summing up in the trial of a 73-year-old woman accused of helping her lover cover up a murder.

Yesterday Judge Zoe Smith told a jury in Reading Crown Court that Patricia Goodband’s injuries may have been caused by “somebody who really wanted to kill her”.

The 76-year-old’s body was found in a drainage shaft and Jennifer Creasey, of Hale Road, Benson, is accused of lying to help Christopher Symons get away with murder.

She denies two counts of perverting the course of justice. Symons denies murder and his sister Kathleen Adams, 74, also denies one count of perverting the course of justice. The trial continues.