GEORGE GORDON ADMITS KILLING ARTIST, HID BODY IN FREEZER FOR YEARS

George Gordon has gone on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of murdering his friend, the artist Delia McInerney, and keeping her dismembered body in a chest freezer at his flat for almost three years. Prosecutors told the jury that Gordon killed McInerney in April 2023, days before she had been due to move to Portugal. McInerney divided her time between Gordon's flat in St Helens, Merseyside, and her own house in Anfield, Liverpool. Her body was not found until police attended the St Helens flat on 8 January this year. Gordon admits killing McInerney but did not appear in the dock when the case opened on Wednesday.

A relative described McInerney as Gordon's "soulmate". After learning of her plan to relocate, Gordon bought a sledgehammer, a handsaw and other items that prosecutors said he would need to kill and dismember her. He also collected prescriptions for medications later found in her system. McInerney had intended to take her five guinea pigs to Portugal with her, but they too were killed. After her death, Gordon posed as McInerney in messages and emails sent to her friends.

Martin Reid KC, prosecuting, told the court that Gordon fraudulently obtained thousands of pounds from McInerney's bank accounts after her death, and took out a loan and credit cards in her name. He told the jury: "Unbeknown to them, but known very well to the defendant, Delia McInerney had died in April 2023, at the defendant's hands." Gordon initially told police he had hit McInerney with a hammer to "end her suffering" after she took an overdose, but he now claims he acted in self-defence, Reid said. The trial continues at Liverpool Crown Court.