Colette Law: Jail for man who 'misled' investigation of body in Spalding churchyard

A man who "misled" police before a woman's body was found in a churchyard has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.

The body of Colette Law, 26, was discovered in a tent in Spalding on 17 July 2023.

Paul Neilson, 30, of Priory Road, Spalding, pleaded guilty to three assaults on Ms Law and to perverting public justice.

He was sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on 24 January.

CCTV footage in court showed some assaults inflicted by Neilson on Ms Law in the last days before she died.

It showed Neilson kicking Ms Law, who was his partner at the time, twice on 8 July in Hall Place in Spalding.

Two assaults also took place in Spalding on 10 July where Neilson pushed Ms Law to the ground and caused actual bodily harm.

James Varley, prosecuting, said Neilson and Ms Law went back to their tent in St Mary and St Nicolas Church on 10 July.

The court was told that Ms Law, from Greenock in Scotland, was never seen on CCTV again and died on the night between 10 and 11 July.

Ms Law's body was found seven days later by paramedics, who were searching for someone else.

A post-mortem examination found that Ms Law had had two bleeds on the brain, one more recent than the other.

The court was told that Neilson claimed Ms Law had experienced a seizure before she died.

Mr Varley said the evidence available to police and pathologists was "insufficient" to establish the cause of Ms Law's death.

The court heard that between 10 and 18 July Neilson had "hindered" the investigation into Ms Law's death.

Specifically, Neilson had told people she had gone back to her parents' house in Scotland.

Neilson was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for the assaults on Ms Law and for "hindering the investigation" into her death.

Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight, addressing Neilson, said she was not sentencing him for "causing Colette's death".

She also confirmed that Neilson was not guilty of murder and manslaughter and that those charges had been dropped.

Mrs Patricia Law, Colette's mum, said in an emotional victim impact statement that she felt as if she had "lost a limb".

She also said she had a personalised urn for Colette and "talks to her every day but she can't talk back".

"We will never forget Colette. She was my daughter and my best friend," said Mrs Law.

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