The man accused of raping and murdering the daughter of a prominent Adelaide gynaecologist promised to “get her home safe”, a UK court has heard.
India Chipchase, 20, went missing in February after a night out with friends in Northampton and was found dead in Edward Tenniswood’s flat the following day.
The 52-year-old allegedly approached the young woman outside a cocktail bar as she was trying to make her way home, after she got separated from her friends.
“He was overheard to be saying ‘Not to worry, I will get you home safe’. He did not,” prosecutor Chris Donnellan QC told the Birmingham Crown Court this week, according to the Daily Mail.
“She, led by him — or steered, or escorted by him — went to a taxi that would take her not to her home, but to the other side of Northampton.”
India Chipchanse and her boyfriend Evaan Reihana. Source: Facebook
Chipchase, described as being in a "pickled state", had attempted to leave NB's cocktail bar alone in a taxi but "for whatever reason" had changed her mind and tried to get back into the bar where she was declined entry.
She then met Tenniswood, a bookkeeper, who allegedly coaxed her into a different taxi, took her back to his home, raped and killed her.
Local residents react to the news of India's murder (post continues after video):
Jurors were told she suffered blunt force trauma to her head and face, and had a graze on her ear that had bled through to a sheet under the mattress where she was found.
A post-mortem revealed she died from pressure to the neck.
