THE trial of a man accused of murdering teenage vice girl Carly Bateman is to continue on Monday after a day of legal argument at Manchester Crown Court.

Geoffrey Porter, aged 40, of Columbia Road, Heaton, denies killing the 17-year-old whose naked body was discovered on a pile of leaves in a back alley off Crawford Avenue, The Haulgh, on November 11 last year.

Carly -- a former pupil at Deane High School in Deane, Bolton -- had been working as a prostitute to pay for her drug habit.

The jury has heard from the prosecution that Carly's "short, wretched life" ended tragically when she was strangled .

Carly left home at the age of 14 and turned to prostitution, the court was told. At the time of her death, the "waif-like" 5ft 2ins teenager weighed just over six stone. She had been living in a Bolton hostel for homeless women.A post mortem examination carried out at the Royal Bolton Hospital revealed multiple abrasions on the side and front of her neck, believed to have been caused by a ligature.

The court has been told that Carly's clothing has never been recovered.

The prosecution has alleged that fibres taken from the teenager's naked body matched with some found in the boot of Porter's car. DNA swabs taken at the scene were also found to match the defendant's profile.

(Proceeding)