Father ‘murdered daughter, 17, to silence her claims that he sexually abused her
A teenage photography student was murdered by her father to silence her claims that he sexually abused her, a court heard.
Jurors were told both her parents then sent messages from her phone pretending to be her and saying she had run away to divert officers who were investigating her disappearance.
Bernadette Walker, 17, was last seen alive on July 18 last year when her father Scott Walker, 51, collected her in the car from his parents’ house in Peterborough where she had stayed overnight, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
Lisa Wilding QC, opening the prosecution case, said Bernadette’s body has not been found.
She said the girl’s father and her 38-year-old mother Sarah Walker formed an ‘unholy alliance’, in a nine-minute phone call on July 18, to cover up her death.
Her mother did not report her missing to police until July 21, the prosecution say.
Ms Wilding said Bernadette, who wore glasses, had a habit of dying her hair in rainbow colours, was described by friends as ‘something of a goth’ and ‘socially awkward’, with many of her friendships online.
She was also known as Bea.
Ms Wilding said that on July 16, Bernadette told her mother that her father ‘had been sexually abusing her over a number of years’.
‘Mother and daughter spoke about that allegation that night and into the following morning,’ said Ms Wilding.
‘Sarah Walker told Bernadette that she did not believe her.
‘The following day, it was decided that Bernadette should go and spend the night with her paternal grandparents while things calmed down a little.’
Bernadette’s father dropped her at her grandparents’ house on the evening of July 17 and he collected her the following morning, prosecutors say.
‘Since the day she disappeared she has not used or sought to access her telephone or social media accounts, she has had access to no money or banking and has not been seen at any hospital or other surgery,’ said Ms Wilding.
‘No-one who knew her or loved her has heard from her since that day.