A man accused of strangling Bradford prostitute Caroline Creevy told a string of lies in an effort to cover his tracks, a murder trial heard today.

Kenneth Valentine, 43, is accused of murdering 25-year-old Caroline at his flat in Soho Mills, Thornton Road, Bradford.

It is alleged he wrapped her body in a rug and then dumped it in a nearby storm drain where it was discovered nearly three weeks later by police on November 17, 1996.

Valentine denies murder.

In the prosecution's closing speech to the jury, Anton Lodge QC said the accused lied about the blood on his headboard, claiming it was from spots on his back.

Mr Lodge also said Valentine lied about his whereabouts on the night Caroline was killed in an attempt to distance himself from his flat where Caroline was heard screaming.

"When a post mortem was carried out eight bruises were found to her head, four of which had bled," said Mr Lodge.

"It also found she had a broken nose which in all probability bled as well. It's hard for anyone to imagine or to think what Caroline must have been doing when two fingerprints of hers were left in her blood.

"Valentine has never explained and he does not have to explain how her fingerprints got on his bedboard."

The jury was also shown video footage from security cameras at Soho Mills which shows a man leaving the building with a rug over his shoulder on the night Caroline went missing.

Valentine denied he was the man seen leaving the building and later coming back empty-handed. But he admitted he had lied to police in his first interviews about the rug. The court heard he told police he did not recognise the rug.

Valentine said: "I was shocked seeing my rug, so I denied that it was mine."

The trial continues.

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