Man arrested after woman's body found in Nuneaton car boot

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The body of a young woman has been found in a car boot in Nuneaton.



The grim discovery was made on Monday morning, in Montana Walk, Stockingford, and police arrested a man in connection with the “suspicious” death.

No details about the victim have been released but it is understood she is a mum in her 20s and that she had been strangled.

Montana Walk is a quiet cul-de-sac on a modern housing estate off Croft Road. One resident, who did not want to be named, said: “I think the car had been there since New Year’s Eve. I saw a lot of police activity yesterday and a man being led away from one of the nearby houses.”

A Warwickshire Police spokesman said: “We are are examining the circumstances of how the woman died and her death is being treated as suspicious at this time.

"A post mortem examination will be held to establish how she died. Her details will not be released until formal identification procedures have been completed and members of her family have been informed.”

Police said that a 31-year-old man was arrested in Nuneaton shortly before 12.30pm today (MONDAY) and is being questioned in connection with the inquiry.

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Police quiz boyfriend over Nuneaton woman body in car boot

POLICE continue to question the boyfriend of a woman whose body was found dumped in the boot of a car in Nuneaton.

The victim, named locally as Claire O’Connor, was found in a car parked outside a house in Montana Walk, Stockingford, on Monday.

It is believed the man being questioned is Claire’s boyfriend, Aaron Mann, aged 31, who lived at the same address in Church Road.

The couple were regulars at the Green Bear pub, near their home in Church Road.

Drinkers at the pub said they were “shocked” by her death.

One customer, who did not want to be named, said: “They were both in here to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Everyone is quite shocked with the news of what has happened.”

Detectives visited the Green Bear on Tuesday to take statements from people who knew the couple and were at Saturday night’s party.

Door-to-door inquiries were also made in Church Road and Montana Walk, while forensic officers examined the inside of the couple’s house.

A neighbour said that Claire had lived at the property for about five years, after originally hailing from Lancashire.

It is thought she was aged in her late 20s or early 30s and worked for an industrial equipment company in Leicestershire.

A preliminary post mortem to establish the cause of death was held yesterday, but no details were released.

A Warwickshire Police spokesman said: “We will not be giving the identity of the deceased until formal identification procedures have taken place and relatives have been informed.”

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Police given more time to quiz Nuneaton car boot body suspect

POLICE investigating the murder of a Nuneaton mum have been granted more time to question a 31-year old suspect.

The victim has been named locally as Claire O’Connor, who is believed to be aged in her 30s.

Her body was found on Monday morning inside the boot of a car in Montana Walk, Stockingford.

It is understood she had a teenage son and originally hailed from Preston, in Lancashire.

The man being held was arrested shortly after the grim discovery and is believed to be her boyfriend, Aaron Mann.

The couple lived together in an end-of-terrace house in Church Road, where police officers have spent the past three days carrying out forensic tests.

A Warwickshire Police spokesman said: “A post mortem has shown that the woman died as a result of injuries to her neck.

"We will not be giving the identity of the deceased until formal identification procedures have taken place and relatives have been informed.”

One tribute on Twitter said: “RIP Claire O’Connor you were always so full of life, shocked by the terrible news. Goodnight, god bless.”

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Boyfriend charged with murder of woman found in Nuneaton car boot

THE boyfriend of a woman found dumped in the boot of a car in Nuneaton has been charged with her murder.

Aaron Mann, 31 - who lived with 38-year-old Claire O’Connor in Church Road - will appear before magistrates on Thursday morning.

A post mortem revealed Claire died as a result of injuries to her neck before her body was found in a Silver Ford Focus on Montana Walk, Stockingford, on Monday.

It is thought Claire had lived at the property in Nuneaton for about five years and worked for an industrial equipment company in Leicestershire.

Her family are expected to release a statement later on Thursday.

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Source : DAILY MAIL

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'Body in boot' case: Judge orders re-trial

A RETRIAL has been ordered into the case of a former Nuneaton bouncer who confessed to killing his girlfriend.

Aaron Mann, 32, denied a murder charge on the grounds of diminished responsibility when he first appeared at Coventry Crown Court on November 1.

But, on the seventh day of a much-interrupted hearing, Judge Griffith Jones yesterday dramatically brought the proceedings to a close.

He told the jury: “I am forced into a position where I have to discharge you.

“I do so with a heavy heart for many reasons, which it is not appropriate for me to say now. You have had to put up with one adjournment after another and I am sorry that people so public-spirited as you have been mucked about.”

The judge said he had been “forced into this position” because prosecuting barrister Simon Edwards had been taken ill.

He told the jury: “You have my assurance that I am going to bring this case back in the near future to examine a number of matters where I feel it has gone very wrong.”

The court had earlier heard evidence that Mann killed Claire O’Connor, 38, at the home they shared in Church Road, Nuneaton, after they had been to a New Year’s Eve party. Her body was discovered two days later in the boot of her own car, parked outside the home of Mann’s parents on a Stockingford housing estate.

Following a further adjournment because of the non-availability of a witness last Thursday, Mr Edwards had been due to close the prosecution case yesterday by calling a psychiatrist and a pathologist.

In his absence, Crown Prosecution Service representative Simon Jones said that Mark Wall QC had been instructed to take over the case, which may now be heard at Leamington.

The judge said: “The matter should be listed before me no later than November 30.”

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Body in boot case: Re-trial set for next year

THE re-trial of the former bouncer who killed his Nuneaton girlfriend may not take place until next Spring.

Aaron Mann, 32, appeared at Coventry Crown Court earlier this month when he pleaded not guilty to murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The much-interrupted case was dramatically halted going into its third week because the prosecuting barrister became ill and the jury was discharged.

They had heard that Mann had strangled Claire O'Connor, 38, at the home they shared in Church Road, Stockingford, in the early hours of January 1.

The couple had been at a New Years Eve party at a nearby pub and Miss O'Connors body was found the following day in the boot of her own car, parked outside Mann's parents' house. The court was told that he had confessed to his father that he had killed Miss O'Connor after voices in his head had told him to do so.

This week the case was adjourned until May 13. Mann, who has been on medication since his arrest on January 2, will remain in custody.

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Nuneaton bouncer found guilty of murdering girlfriend



A former bouncer has been convicted of the murder of his Nuneaton girlfriend.

A jury at the Crown Court in Leamington today returned a guilty verdict on Aaron Mann, who had denied killing mum-of-one Claire O’Connor, aged 38, in the early hours of New Year’s Day last year, on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Mann, 33, of Church Road, Nuneaton, had claimed during the long-running trial that “voices” in his head had told him to kill Claire.

Her body was found two days later hidden in the boot of her own car parked in a street where Mann’s parents lived, in Montana Walk.

She had died as a result of injuries to her neck.

Mann will be sentenced tomorrow.

Speaking after today’s verdict, Detective Chief Inspector James Essex, who led the investigation, said: “I am very pleased with today’s result. We will find out tomorrow exactly how many years Aaron Mann will be spending in prison, but I am confident it will be a considerable time.

"The verdict of murder is despite his attempts during his trial to mitigate the circumstances of Claire’s death.

“This has been a particularly difficult trial for Claire’s family and friends, not just because it involved the death of a loved one, but also due to the length of time they have had to wait for the outcome.

"Throughout the extended time it has taken they have continued to act with dignity and reserve

.“Unfortunately domestic abuse is largely a hidden crime that all too often takes place behind closed doors.

"Often no one other than those directly involved, know it is taking place.

“Sadly it is too late for Claire, but I am urging anyone who suffers from domestic abuse, in whatever form, be it physical, psychological, sexual, financial or emotional, to seek help from the police or other support "

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Aaron Mann given life sentence for 'savage and brutal' murder of Claire O'Connor

A jealous bouncer has been jailed for life for murdering his “attractive and vivacious” girlfriend.

Aaron Mann was today told he must serve a minimum of 16 years after strangling Claire O’Connor and driving around for two days with her body in the boot.

He had denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility – saying voices in his head had told him to do it – but was convicted by a jury yesterday.

During the trial the jury heard that Mann, of Church Road, Nuneaton, suffered from depression and jealousy and had previously threatened to harm 38-year-old Miss O’Connor.

And he killed her in her own bed in the early hours of New Year’s Day last year because he was angry she had been socialising at the Green Bear pub where he had been working on the door that night.

It is believed she had told him their on-off relationship was finally over.

Sentencing the 33-year-old dad-of-two at Leamington Crown Court this morning, Judge Richard Griffith-Jones told him: “You had formed a relationship with an attractive, vivacious, popular and kind woman.

“Your personality was not equipped to manage such a relationship.

“It was clear even in the early part of 2011 that jealousy and bad temper meant that you were violent and threatening towards her, exemplified by a statement she made in May 2011, with all the hideous prophecy about her fear that you would kill her.

“You wanted control and could not accept that the relationship was coming to an end.

“It may be that her popularity and sense of fun was something you just could not cope with.

“You are a strongly-built man. She was a diminutive woman who had trusted you to stay in her house and room even as the relationship was coming to an end.

“There she was in her own bed in a vulnerable position, and this is not a case where you have ever hidden the fact it was your intention to kill.

“You described to the psychiatrist the heavy blows to the throat to finish her off.

“Thereafter you did not show her the dignity that any human being should have when dead because you were afraid of being caught.

“You wrapped her in an old sleeping bag from the shed and put her in the boot of her own car and drove and carried on with your life for another 30 hours while she was there in the boot of the car.

“One of the terrible inferences in this case was you were moving your own infant children around in the car, while in the boot was a body.”

Mann had a previous conviction for assault after kicking and punching a man in 2001.

Michael Duck QC, defending, said: “He had been suffering from depression. He has an emotional personality disorder. He is a man in fact who has little in the way of violence on his record.

“One thing that is overwhelming is everybody feels sympathy towards Claire O’Connor’s family and friends. That extends to Mr Mann himself.

“When sober they had very real affection for each other. I do submit there is genuine contrition.

“Hiding the body was appalling thing to do. We are dealing with a man who was unwell at the time.

“He is bitterly contrite about what happened. He killed a woman he loved.”