A man who “delayed” police finding the body of his girlfriend in a churchyard for a week after previously assaulting her three times was today (Wednesday) jailed for four years and eight months.
The body of Colette Law, 26, who was from Greenock in Scotland, was discovered in a tent in the grounds of St Mary and St Nicholas Church in Spalding on July 17 last year.
Ms Law’s body was not found for seven days after the final assaults took place on July 10, and during that period her boyfriend, Paul Neilson, 30, persistently told people that she had gone back to Scotland.
Lincoln Crown Court heard Neilson was initially charged with murder and manslaughter but those charges were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.
James Varley, prosecuting, explained the delay in finding Ms Law’s body meant her cause of death could not be established.
Ms Law’s parents were in the public gallery to watch Neilson sentenced after he admitted perverting public justice and the three assaults on Ms Law.
Mr Varley admitted: “On the night of July 10 and morning of July 11, Colette Law, just 26, tragically lost her life.
“It is a sad feature of the case that they, (her parents) will never definitively know the cause of death of their daughter.
“The reason for that is the evidence available to the police and latterly the pathologist was insufficient to establish the cause of death.”
Mr Varley added: “The only reason for that delay was this defendant’s persistent course of lying.”
Neilson, 30, of Priory Road, Spalding, pleaded guilty to doing an act tended or intended to pervert the course of public justice between July 10 and July 18 last year.
At an earlier hearing Neilson also admitted a charge of assault by beating relating to Ms Law which occurred on July 8 2023, and two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to Ms Law on 10 July last year.
The court heard the body of Ms Law was finally found in the tent seven days after she died.
“It was a chance find, paramedics were looking for someone else, when they came upon the tent in which she died and remained,” Mr Varley said.
“The state of Colette Law was such that the pathologists could not do the job they wanted to do.
“Although she had a bleed on the brain, it could not be determined if that was the cause of her death.”
The court heard Nielson and Ms Law had been a couple for around three years and became familiar faces in Spalding after they moved down from Scotland and pitched a tent in the churchyard.
Ms Law was last seen by her mother when she was given £100 to take a train south to England.
Mr Varley said no one had a bad word to say about Ms Law, but Neilson was often noticed to be shouting at her.
A CCTV trawl by police in Spalding found three assaults by Neilson on Ms Law.
The first in Hall Place, Spalding, on July 8, and two incidents on July 10 when Neilson pushed her on both occasions.
During the first assault on July 10 in Spalding’s Sheep Market, Ms Law could be seen falling backwards into a picnic bench after being pushed by Neilson.
Just 20 minutes later, Neilson was again caught on CCTV pushing Ms Law in Red Lion Street. On that occasion Ms Law again fell to the floor but the footage did not catch if she had hit her head.
Ms Law appeared to be clutching her side and suffered a bleeding arm. “She certainly appeared to be in some pain,” Mr Varley added.
During the final assault Neilson could also be seen drawing his leg back without following through.
Mr Varley said it was likely that Neilson realised that Ms Law had banged her head, and subsequently he said that Colette had suffered a fit after returning to the tent on the night of July 10.
“The obvious inference is she died that night,” Mr Varley added. “She was never to leave the tent.
“But the defendant went to a friend’s house.
“People were told she had gone back to Scotland. They were no doubt happy she was no longer with Mr Neilson.
“If the alarm had been raised the first place that would have been searched would have been the tent.”
The court heard Neilson took a trip to the job centre on July 11 to collect his benefits but lied to a friend, telling them he didn’t know where Ms Law was.
Mr Varley said Neilson then repeated the the lie, saying he had just spoken to Colette’s mother.
On July 12 he travelled to Market Deeping library. “It might be he wanted to check the local news to see if anything had been reported,” Mr Varley added.
“He told the librarian Colette had gone back to Scotland.”
The court heard Neilson repeated the lie to other officials in the following days, claiming they had split and Colette had moved back to Scotland to get work in childcare.
He also texted Ms Law’s mother asking for money, the prosecutor claimed.
“The purpose of the text was to ask Patricia Law for £30. She did not have any money and refused,” Mr Varley said.
Neilson also admitted in one account that “I pushed her, and she hit her head,” but he then passed it off as a joke and said Ms Law had returned to Scotland.
Mr Varley said Neilson repeated the lie to an an Environment officer and police officer on 18 July.
The court heard Neilson was arrested for murder on 20 July. Mr Varley revealed: “He said ‘I never did anything.’ “
Mr Varley added: “She (Colette) had already been dead for ten days.”
A post mortem showed Ms Law had suffered two bleeds on the brain, with one believed to be more historic in time.
And while in jail Neilson admitted to a prison chaplain that he had pushed Ms Law over and felt responsible.
At the end of the prosecution opening, Patricia Law, Colette’s mother, read out a moving victim impact statement to the judge.
She described how Colette was the youngest of her three daughters, and how the family took Neilson in despite their reservations.
“She didn’t deserve to die and certainly in the way she did,” Mrs Law added. “I feel like I have lost a limb.”
Mrs Law insisted she would have reported Neilson to the police if she had seen any violence to her daughter.
She described Colette as having an “infectious smile,” and said all her daughter wanted was a house and family.
“Colette has left us lots of memories, every corner we turn she is there,” Mrs Law added.
The court heard Neilson had previous convictions for assault, making a bomb hoax and wasting police time.
John McNally, mitigating for Neilson, said his love for Colette was genuine, but he realised he did not always act appropriately towards her.
Mr McNally told the court: “It amounted to a genuine bond and relationship, and in the summer of last year they were searching for accomodation rather than living in a tent.”
In a statement from Neilson, which Mr McNally read out, he admitted being sorry and said he should never have raised a hand to Colette.
Neilson, who denied sending a text to Colette’s mother asking for money, said: “I just want to say sorry for how things have turned out. I can’t imagine how you, the family, feel.”
Passing sentence Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told Neilson his actions had hindered the police investigation into Colette Law’s death and caused “avoidable anguish” for her family.
Judge Sjolin Knight made it clear she was not sentencing Neilson for causing Ms Law’s death, but said he had not demonstrated remorse.
Judge Sjolin Knight said: “How and when she (Colette) died is not so easy to state, and that is down to your actions.”
Judge Sjolin Knight told Neilson the first assault on 10 July was significant enough to draw the attention of two other people in the street and others viewing from an upstairs window.
The second assault on July 10 caused Colette to fall a couple of feet backwards, Judge Sjolin Knight added.
“I can not be sure she hit her head.”
But Judge Sjolin Knight told Neilson his account was that Colette had a fit after returning to the tent, and he knew by the morning of July 11 that she was dead.
“You feared you were responsible for her death,” Judge Sjolin Knight explained, and knew you had assaulted her.
“You came up with a tale you maintained for over a week,” Judge Sjolin Knight added.
Neilson was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for the assaults and four years consecutive imprisonment for perverting public justice.
Judge Sjolin Knight also praised the “quiet dignity” of Colette Law’s family.
