Leeds man murdered woman and dumped body in wheelie bin after crack cocaine party in Harehills, court hears
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
A trial was opened this morning (Tuesday) at Leeds Crown Court after Mark Metcalfe was charged with the murder of Theresa Jordan, whose body was discovered in a bush near the Asda store on Kimberley Road in Harehills on June 23, 2022.
Metcalfe, 40. has also been charged with preventing the lawful burial of a body. He denies both charges.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOpening the case to the jury, 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.
“There was sufficient violence used for her blood to be deposited in the living room and for her hair to be found at the bottom of the stairs.
“The motive remains unclear and the defendant refuses to accept he played any part.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
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.
He said: “It was left there until the body’s decomposition caused others to query about the smell. It forced him to deposit the body near to Asda where it was found on June 23.”
He said 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.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdEvidence 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”.
Mr 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”.
“He said she left his house and that was the last he saw of her”, Mr Harrison said.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdMetcalfe denied knowing why her blood was found at his home and “denied it was him disposing of the body”.
A pathologist established that Ms Jordan died “shortly after June 11” although it was not possible to establish a cause of death due to the “significant decomposition”.
Six witness statements were also read out to the court, including from two support workers who said that Ms Jordan had been homeless in the days before June 11. One woman who came into contact with her on that day also described her as being drunk and an Uber Eats driver said that he drove her to Harehills at her request but that she urinated in his front seat. He said that she was “doing crazy stuff”.
The members of the public who found her body in the bush also gave statements, saying that the smell was “awful” that they were “in shock”.
The trial continues and is expected to last two weeks.