A man accused of murdering a mum and dumping her body in a wheelie bin has had his trial delayed due to health fears.
Nicola Stevenson, who was originally from Edinburgh, was found stuffed in the bin in November last year. She had suffered a head injury.
Richard Canlin, 41, is accused of her murder but could not appear at an online pre-trial hearing yesterday.
Prison staff told the court Canlin, who is being held on remand, has been isolated for a minimum of 12 weeks to shield him from the coronavirus.
He was described as being in a high-risk group and has been in isolation at the request of medical staff since April 24, the court heard.
A trial will not now take place until September at the earliest.
Nicola was understood to have been recovering from cancer when she died.
She had attended Balerno High School near Edinburgh as a teenager but later moved to Sussex.
The body of mum-of-two Nicola, 39, was found in a grey domestic wheelie bin partially hidden by undergrowth at a park in Lewes, Sussex.
Police believe her body could have been in the bin for several weeks before it was discovered by a dog walker at the recreation ground on November 13 last year.
A post-mortem examination revealed she had suffered a serious head trauma.
Canlin was arrested by Sussex Police the following day.
The pre-trial hearing was held online at Brighton Magistrates’ Court yesterday because courts are closed during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Unemployed Canlin, of no fixed address, was expected to enter a plea.
Judge Shani Barnes said the trial would go ahead at either Lewes, Brighton or Hove if the courts were able to sit.
“We will hope to carry on in the normal way, as best we can,” the judge said.
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