Woman whose body was never found was murdered by boyfriend in Cornwall, inquest told

A woman who was murdered, dismembered and placed in a wheelie bin by her boyfriend was unlawfully killed, a coroner has said.

Kirby Simone Noden was murdered by Dean Lowe in the small community of Marazion nearPenzance, Cornwall, in May 2017.

Lowe was subsequently tried and convicted at Truro Crown Court, and is now serving a life sentence, of which he must spend a minimum of 28 years behind bars.

Noden's body has never been found and it is believed it was likely incinerated by unaware workmen.

At an inquest into Ms Noden's death on Tuesday 28 September, Detective Sergeant Christopher Rooney testified how she came to be killed by her boyfriend.

Ms Noden was originally from Cheshire but lost touch with her family after her controlling boyfriend Mr Lowe gave her an ultimatum - it was him or them.

The couple moved to Cornwall and settled down in Torquay before moving to a basement flat in Marazion.

The inquest heard she had children but they were removed from her as she had drug problems, an addiction she shared with Mr Lowe.

DS Rooney said Devon and Cornwall Police were alerted to a call from Merseyside Police in May 2017.

He said: "Merseyside Police was called by Toni-Anne Barlow to say her cousin Dean Lowe had sent her Facebook messages stating he put his girlfriend in a wheelie bin.

"The message contained a photograph of what appeared to be blood-splattered walls."

PC Neal, a local officer, was then sent to the couple's flat.

Mr Lowe told the officer he killed Kirby and had disposed of her body parts in a wheelie bin.

He said he was not sure of the details but could see the images in his head.

DS Rooney said Mr Lowe then took PC Neal down into the flat, where he showed the officer the murder scene.

Lowe said the blood belonged to his girlfriend and that he had dismembered her, before disposing of her body in a wheelie bin.

PC Neal then arrested Mr Lowe on suspicion of murder, while a crime scene investigation team attended the flat and confirmed the blood was Ms Kirby's.

Mr Lowe was then charged and prosecuted for the brutal murder and was found guilty following a trial the following year.

DS Rooney said it is likely Ms Kirby was murdered sometime between 11 and 14 January 2017. He said she had been struck over the head by a rock and the end of a metal pole.

The inquest was opened after the coroner made a special request to the chief coroner for an inquest in the absence of a body. Normally inquests are only opened after a body is found.

Ms Kirby's family felt the inquest was not necessary and wanted to move forward, remembering the mother as she was.

The coroner said an inquest is usually not needed when a criminal trial has occurred, but because the application to hold an inquest was granted after the trial, it needed to be concluded.

Mr Cox said: "Here we know Dean Lowe was convicted of murder, it makes it inevitable the only conclusion I will consider was that Kirby was unlawfully killed that will be the conclusion I will record."