FORENSIC evidence taken from the body of a murdered teenager provided an "extremely strong" link with the alleged killer, a jury was told.

The evidence was discovered on swabs from the mouth of 17-year-old vice girl Carly Bateman who was strangled before her naked body was dumped on a dirt track.

The swabs were examined by an expert who found material which he then compared with the DNA profile of 41-year-old Geoffrey Porter.

"The chances of the DNA coming from anyone other than Porter were 2.8 million times to one," added forensic expert Leslie Ellison at Manchester Crown Court.

Mr Ellison told the jury he also examined swabs taken from Carly's body and found male DNA which could also be attributable to Porter.

"The chances of finding those matching results from anyone other than Geoffrey Porter were one-in-500 because it was an incomplete profile," he added.

Mr Ellison was giving evidence for the prosecution at the trial in which Porter, of Columbia Road, Bolton, pleads not guilty to murdering Carly in November, last year.

Her "waif-like" body was found in undergrowth by two men just hours after she left a homeless women's hostel in Fleet House, Bolton.

A murder hunt was launched and police learned that Porter's distinctive Proton car had been spotted several times in the area.

The court was told that the car was examined and the tyre pattern was found to match tyre impressions left in the dirt at the scene.

When Porter was questioned, he said he could not remember what he was doing at the time of the murder, but a number of fibres found in his car were alleged to have matched fibres from a jumper owned by Carly and a hair from her head was discovered in the vehicle.

(Proceeding)