A JURY have been urged to put their personal feelings aside when deliberating the case of a man accused of murdering a prostitute.

Geoffrey Porter, aged 40, from Columbia Road, Bolton, denies killing 17-year-old Carly Bateman last year.

Her naked body was found in an alleyway off Crawford Avenue, The Haulgh, in the early hours of November 11.

She had died from compression injuries to the neck. Summing up, the Hon Mr Justice Holland told the five women and seven men at Manchester Crown Court that the case was about the murder of a prostitute.

He said: "But it is about a person who is an habitual user of prostitutes, life in the red light district, how the people who work there behave and drug addiction.

"Many of you may have strong views about the subject but you need to put them out of your mind for the purposes of your deliberations.

"Carly Bateman was not less of a human being requiring the law's protection by reason of her lifestyle, neither is Porter, not withstanding his predisposition for prostitutes."

The judge also praised the prostitutes who had given evidence in the two week trial.

The jury have been told that tyre marks, fibres, and DNA evidence all point to Porter. In his defence statement, Mr Jerome Lynch QC, said a witness had given a statement saying she had seen Carly that night just minutes before her body was found so so his client could not have done it.

He said: "Why would this defendant kill Carly? He is a man who used prostitutes, he liked them, he made friends with them, he would ferry them around to their drug dealers. It may be a little odd, but why would he kill Carly?

"He didn't judge them, these girls used him, they weren't threatened or worried by him."

He added: "It is our case that Porter was not with Carly when she died. It is not in dispute that he must have had sex with her that night. The defendant has repeatedly stated that he can't recall what he was doing between midnight and 2.30am."

The jury were due to start their deliberations today.

(Proceeding)