Operation Act.

I'm very pleased today that the Jury have found Philip Martins guilty of the *** of Linda Bakewell. Linda Bakewell was a friendly individual, she had a good professional career, and was well liked by her colleagues and friends. She met Martins through a mutual interest in Northern Soul music and they developed a network of friends, amongst themselves within that group. Linda trusted Philip Martins, and she viewed him as a friend. It was a friendship in many ways Martins exploited. However, Linda felt comfortable going with Martins on the night of her death in November 2010. When the two of them left in her car, and went to a lonely area in Widnes. Some hours later, Martins was seen by a man dragging Linda's body into the house. Martins showed little regard and little respect for Linda, in the way that he treated her shortly before her death and after her death. I would describe Philip Martins as cold, calculated individual. He told lies about where he'd been with Linda. He tried to cover up his tracks. He showed Linda little dignity just before her death, and after her death, in dragging her body from her car into his house in which she received horrific injuries. Philip Martins came into the enquiry at an early stage, after Linda had been reported missing from home. His original account to the police was full of lies, and it was as a result of this that it arose suspicion and he was later revisited and subsequently arrested for her ***. At his house police found Linda's body in the boot of his car. We will never know what happened to Linda on the night, we have lots of CCTV footage which shows Linda and they seem to be perfectly natural with each other. The car is then tracked through various locations in Widnes, to some lonely locations where the vehicle is not spotted for about an hour and forty minutes. The next location we have on CCTV, is the vehicle emerging and Martins driving to his home address, where he's later seen taking her body out of the car. The most disturbing part of the investigation was the fact that Philip Martins had stowed Linda's body in his house for a period of 4 days. He moved the body around the house during that time incase anybody called round or anyone was looking through his window. We will never know what his real intention was in relation to where he was going to take Linda's body. One of the key factors of the investigation was the assistance we got from witnesses who had seen Linda Bakewell and Philip Martins on the night when Linda disappeared, and who also helped us to build a picture of what Martins activity was during the weekend while he had Linda's body hidden at his home address. Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Linda in this difficult time and hopes that todays result will bring some closure to them.