Defence outlines Harehills murder case after woman's body dumped outside Asda in Leeds
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Mark Metcalfe is standing trial at Leeds Crown Court over the killing of 32-year-old Theresa “Terri” Jordan, whose putrefied body was found by horrified passers by in undergrowth on Kimberley Road in Harehills on June 23, 2022.
He also denies a charge of preventing the lawful burial of a body.
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Hide AdThe court previously heard that 40-year-old Metcalfe was seen on CCTV dumping her naked body. The Crown says he killed Theresa then dumped her in his wheelie bin outside his home, but was forced to get rid of her when the rotting smell was raising suspicion.


She had been at Metcalfe’s home on Compton Crescent to take crack cocaine on June 11.
But addressing the jury this week, defence barrister Mark McKone KC said there was no forensic evidence that he was responsible for her death, suggesting it could have been caused by a drugs overdose, and that her body was dumped in the bin out of panic.
Due to the state of decomposition, a pathologist was unable to ascertain a cause of death, or indeed the exact time of death, raising questions over whether she even died at Metcalfe’s property.
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Hide AdMr McKone said that the possibility of overdose was “on the radar of the police” and that evidence around her death was a “long way from it being a homicide”.
He also queried whether it was Metcalfe who initially put Theresa’s body in the bin. He said: “If he was the killer, would he dare leave the body that was creating a terrible smell in his own garden for days in a bin that could be linked to him?”
Blood from Theresa was also found in his home, but Mr McKone argued that on the day they had been taking drugs together, she was acting “irrationally” and had broken items in the property, including a picture frame, so it was plausible that she cut herself.
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Hide AdBut summing up for the Crown, John Harrison KC told the jury about Metcalfe: “He knows exactly what happened to her. He knows how she died. He knows why he kept her in the wheelie bin at his house. But he will not tell you.
“He has lied and continues to lie in order to get away with murder.”
Opening the case to the jury earlier this month, John Harrison said that the prosecution argued that Ms Jordan - who was 32 at the time of her death - and a friend had been at Metcalfe’s home on Compton Crescent on 11 June 2022 taking crack cocaine with him and drinking heavily.
He said that the two women fell out with Metcalfe and left. He said: “Ms Jordan must have returned a short time later. She met the defendant downstairs where she was attacked and killed.
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Hide AdMr Harrison claimed that Metcalfe then stripped Ms Jordan of all of her clothes except her socks and placed her body in a wheelie bin and placed it outside.
The court was told that CCTV showed Metcalfe disposing of the body and of the wheelie bin and that forensic evidence showed that Ms Jordan’s blood and hair was found at the home.
Metcalfe’s housemate was interviewed and told police that he “heard bangs” on June 11 when Metcalfe “brought one of them back”. He also said that there was a cut on Metcalfe’s hand.
Evidence also showed that after the body was found Metcalfe began getting rid of some items of clothing and that a support worker attending his home and found him cleaning the house while “sweating, trembling and nervous”.
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Hide AdMr Harrison said: “The prosecution suggest he was trying to cover his tracks.”
Metcalfe was arrested on July 11, 2023, and told police that “her death was nothing to do with me”.
The trial, which began on September 3, continues. The jury is expected to retire and begin their deliberations today.