Lindsay Birbeck: Teenager found guilty of killing teaching assistant named
A 17-year-old boy, who was found guilty of murdering Lindsay Birbeck yesterday, has been named as Rocky Price after reporting restrictions were lifted.
Media outlets were banned from identifying the 17-year-old, who is due to turn 18 in February, due to a court order under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act.
A photo of Price pulling a wheelie bin had been released during the investigation as part of a CCTV appeal.
The restrictions were lifted by Mrs Justice Yip, the judge presiding over the case following an application by the press.
The defence had opposed the application due to Price's vulnerabilities.
The court heard that Price has already been subject to two 'attacks' while on remand at HMP Wetherby.
Barrister Mark Stuart said: "Rocky Price's difficulties are particularly with verbal or the lack of verbal communication and the difficulties he will have within a prison setting.
"He is about to face now a significant custodial sentence. Not only is it a life sentence but a significant amount of time before his position could be considered by a parole board.
"He is in a young offenders institute and is a category A prisoner. While some inmates may have some inkling what the position is, the concern is if he is named there is a significant prospect others would find out his name and that could cause him some difficulties."
The body of Lindsay Birbeck, 47, was discovered wrapped in two plastic bags in Accrington Cemetery in Lancashire on August 24 last year - 12 days after she went missing.
The mother-of-two left her home in Burnley Road, Accrington, for a late afternoon walk to a nearby wooded area known as the Coppice.
She had invited her teenage daughter, Sarah, and Sarah's boyfriend for tea at 6pm but when she did not return her worried family raised the alarm.
Price had been on the prowl in the woods for lone females and is thought to have killed Mrs Birbeck shortly after she entered the Coppice.
On Wednesday, a jury at Preston Crown Court convicted the youngster of murder after deliberating for more than four hours.
The verdict was returned exactly a year after Mrs Birbeck was murdered.
Price - who was 16 at the time - attended a police station several days after the keep-fit enthusiast was found when police released a CCTV clip of a young male pulling a blue wheelie bin behind him on Burnley Road.
He went on to admit dragging the bin from the Coppice on August 17 - with Mrs Birbeck inside - across Burnley Road to the cemetery where he buried her.
But he claimed he was not involved in her death and that a mystery man had approached him in the area with the promise of a large cash reward if he disposed of the body.
He stated: "I have not met this man before. I have not met him since, nor have I had any contact with him. He has not paid me any money. He told me that he would leave the money for me near where the body had been at first once everything was clear."
The Crown said the defendant's account was "implausible fiction".
Price will be sentenced tomorrow.