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Father 'tried to blot out killing daughter'

Wednesday 19 January 1994 00:02 GMT
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A FATHER who killed his daughter by fracturing her skull with a builder's lump hammer tried to blot out the attack as he drove around with her body in his car boot, a court heard yesterday.

Derek Arthur Fleming, 52, of Elland, West Yorkshire, denies murdering Linda, 23, a pharmacist, between 21 January and 1 February last year, but admits manslaughter.

Benjamin Nolan QC, for the prosecution, told the jury at Leeds Crown Court that Mr Fleming, a former joinery firm manager, had told police he and his daughter had had a blazing row. He had arrived home from work feeling ill and found Linda still there. She was 'going on' about her problems.

Mr Fleming had told officers his daughter had given him a violent push and he felt extremely angry. He had grabbed at her and picked up a builder's hammer. 'I was pushing her backwards swinging with the hammer. I remember it connecting with something, just where or what I cannot say. Linda went down on to the floor.

'I saw blood on the floor and this made me feel positively ill,' Mr Fleming allegedly told police. He drove around for the rest of the day and finally went to Scammonden Moors, above Halifax, where he left the body in a ditch. After walkers discovered her body, police officers found scientific clues in the house and arrested Mr Fleming. He later told them of the killing, but said he 'did not mean to harm her'.

The case continues today.

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