A MAN charged with the killing of a vice girl told lies to police to cover up his role in her death, a jury has been told.

Shaun Tuley, 30, denies the murder of Middlesbrough prostitute Kellie Mallinson who was found asphyxiated last September by a man walking his dog.

A plea of guilty to manslaughter by Mr Tuley, of Mannion Court, South Bank, has already been rejected by the Crown in the trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Summing up the prosecution case, Franz Muller told the jury of six men and six women that Mr Tuley had told lies about where he had been with 20-year-old Miss Mallinson.

He said the defendant then put forward a false story to police, saying she was fit and well after their sexual encounter in bushes on Middlesbrough's Cannon Park trading estate.

Mr Muller asked the jury: "Why did he tell these lies? You may think it was to cover up his complicity in Miss Mallinson's death."

Mr Muller said that Mr Tuley had left Miss Mallinson laying motionless on the floor and then went home as if nothing had happened, stopping on the way to buy a kebab.

Summing up the defence case, Martin Bethel said that if Mr Tuley had intended to kill Miss Mallinson her injuries would have been much more serious. These included superficial marks to her face and neck and pinpoint haemorrhages in her eyes, lungs and heart.

He said: "She had very minor injuries. Did these really show an intent to kill?"

The judge, Mr Justice Jack, is expected to begin his summing up to the jury today.