THE tragic final weeks in the life of Bolton prostitute Carly Bateman were described to a court today.

Her naked body was found in an alleyway in The Haulgh, in the early hours of Sunday, November 11, last year.

Geoffrey Porter, aged 40, of Columbia Road, off Chorley New Road, Bolton, denied murdering the 17-year-old when the case began yesterday.

In a statement read to Manchester Crown Court, Carly's step-brother Paul Ward said Carly had left home when she was 14, "she lived at various locations and on the streets. She started dabbling in drugs from the age of 12, and turned to prostitution to fund her habit.

"I kept in contact with Carly, and always looked for her on the streets. She was always around the Shifnell Street area.

"I saw her three weeks before her death and she looked very ill and emaciated. She had just discharged herself from hospital.

"She had suffered from diabetes since the age of four, and because of the drugs she had been admitted to hospital several times. I stayed with her for about 20 minutes and left her on Bromwich Street."

The court heard yesterday that police had stopped Porter twice that morning, just yards from where Carly's body was found and within minutes of her being discovered on Crawford Street at 3.30am, but let him go.

At 4.15am, the defendant was arrested on Chadwick Street on suspicion of drink-driving and taken to a police station, leaving his car behind.

He was questioned about a pair of white training shoes on his back seat and a pile of condoms he said he was looking after for a prostitute.

But Porter was released and returned to his car shortly before 5am.

It was reported that the defendant was earlier seen giving two prostitutes a lift at 2.30am and at 3.20am was spoken to by another police officer.

Prosecutor Mr Roderick Carus QC told the jury that DNA from Carly's body matched Porter's profile and the chances of it belonging to somebody else was one in 2.8 million.

Tyre tracks matching the defendant's car were also found at the scene and fibres from the teenager's body matched those found in the boot of the vehicle.

Mr Carus said that Carly had left home at the age of 14 and had turned to prostitution and drugs. Her "waif-like body" was discovered in the back alley by two men who were out on their mountain bikes.

At the time of her death, the 5ft 2ins teenager weighed just over six stone.

Carly had been living in a hostel for homeless women. On Saturday, November 10, after watching television for a couple of hours, she was recorded on CCTV cameras leaving the hostel at about 11.30pm. She was wearing scruffy white trainers, a pair of thin cotton three quarter length trousers, and a worn Ellesse hooded raincoat.

The court heard she was seen by one of the security staff at the hostel, who, presuming she was on her way to work on the streets, warned her to be careful.

A police officer saw her walking along Bradshawgate at about 11.55pm towards the junction of Breightmet Street, which leads to River Street, a popular haunt for prostitutes.

Mr Carus said: "He was the last person to see her alive apart from the killer. The police officer next got a message about 3.35am to say that the body of a young woman had been found at Back Crawford Avenue."

A post mortem examination carried out at the Royal Bolton Hospital found there were multiple abrasions on the side and front of Carly's neck, believed to have been caused by a ligature of some kind.

Mr Carus added: "Additional pressure had been placed on her neck by the killer's forearm, we believe, but we can't be certain. It was not slight pressure, but significant pressure because haemorrhaging on the outer and inner eyelids was found.

"There was also bruising to her right cheek and neck tissue, which showed significant pressure had been placed on her neck for between 20 and 30 seconds.

"Her body was found on a dirt track -- a dark, damp, unwelcoming place where prostitutes took their clients. There were also marks on her body which indicated she had been dragged, the prosecution say, from a car. There was no sign of a struggle at the scene."

The court heard that tyre tracks matching the defendant's silver H-Reg Proton were also found at the scene.

Mr Carus said that Mr Porter claimed he routinely drove down the alley to visit another prostitute who was a friend, and he may have driven down there the day or night that Carly was found.

The prosecution claims two prostitutes saw a man acting suspiciously in the area on Saturday at about 8pm. One of the women wrote down the registration of his car, which was similar to Porter's Proton. He was also captured by a CCTV camera on Breightmet Street about an hour later.

Then the two police officers saw Porter parked in his car on Chadwick Street. He drove off rapidly, but they pulled him over and he was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

The prosecution say he then drove to Salop Street, where he grabbed something from behind his seat and out of his boot, putting them in an industrial skip. The prosecution maintains the items were Carly's clothes, which have never been recovered.

When questioned about his whereabouts between midnight and 2.30am, Porter said he could not remember.

Porter said he knew Carly but had not seen her for about six weeks. The prosecution claimed that fibres taken from the teenager's naked body were matched with some found in the boot of Porter's car. He claimed he had only had the car for a couple of days. DNA swabs taken from Carly's body were also found to match the defendant's profile.

Mr Carus said: "Someone carried Carly's body from a car, and that is why DNA was recovered from her armpits. Porter was that man. He killed her and dumped her body."

Peter Knox, of Blackburn Road, Bolton, told the jury how he his friend John O'Rourke discovered Carly's body.

He said: "We were cycling along the alleyway when we saw a young girl naked on the floor. We thought at first it was a mannequin or a shop dummy because it was all white.

"We went to Castle Street Police Station but there was nobody there, so we dialled 999 from a phone box on Bromwich Street. I was very shocked. I felt sick."

A tape recording of the emergency call was played to the jury.

Porter is being defended by Jerome Lynch QC. The trial is expected to last two weeks.

(Proceeding)