A MAN murdered his former partner then cut up her body after luring her to a derelict pub, a court heard.

Mum-of-three Maggie Smythe’s head and left arm and leg were sawn off and removed from the car park at the Red Bridge Tavern, Breightmet.

Her leg was found on Longsight golf course by a dog walker but, despite an extensive search, her head has never been found.

At Bolton Crown Court 29-year-old Maggie’s former partner Christopher Taylor has admitted her manslaughter but denies murder.

His brother, Brian Ottley, has pleaded not guilty to assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice.

Today a jury of six men and six women began hearing evidence in the trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks.

READ MORE: Full details of the first day of evidence as it happened

Opening the prosecution case, Katherine Pierpoint, told how Maggie lived with her mum, Susan Smythe in Swinside Road while Taylor, his partner and brother lived in Greenroyd Avenue.

The court heard that, on January 25, Maggie went to her cleaning job at Bolton bus station and, afterwards, was picked up by her boyfriend, Christopher Whitehead, for a night out in Manchester.

She returned to her mother’s house at 2.30am, where she exchanged more than 80 texts with Christopher Taylor.

The court heard that he told her he was leaving Bolton and wanted to see her.

The next day Maggie’s mother could not find her and her sister reported her missing when she did not go to work. Police questioned Taylor but he claimed not to have seen Maggie for weeks.

"These were the first of many lies he was to tell police officers," said Miss Pierpoint.

But on Saturday January 26 Taylor and his brother, Ottley were seen making the first of several trips to the Red Bridge Tavern and neighbouring fishing lake, carrying bags.

Taylor, who is a builder working on the derelict pub conversion and had keys for the property, told his boss he could not come to work on the Monday.

"This was because he had other business of his own to attend to and we say he recruited his brother, Brian Ottley to help him. Their plan was to cover up the murder of Maggie," said Miss Pierpoint.

On January 30 police arrested Taylor on suspicion of murder, Maggie's phone was found in an alley behind her home and her trainers found on a the bank of a stream.

Under a flagstone and pile of builder's rubble in the Red Bridge Tavern car park police discovered Maggie's remains and found 40-year-old Taylor's semen in her body.

"That scientific evidence destroyed his credibility — his persistent denials of having been with Maggie that night could not be true," said Miss Pierpoint.

Taylor changed his story, claiming he had met Maggie that night in a tent in the car park in order to have sex, but he had lost his temper and punched her once on the forehead.

He claimed he tried, unsuccessfully, to resuscitate her then panicked and covered her body with debris before going home, washing his clothes and showering and smoking cannabis.

Taylor blamed his brother, Ottley for dismembering the body. Home office pathologist Dr Naomi Carter concluded that a saw-type tool had been used to sever the limbs and head.

Taylor told police he had buried Maggie's head in mud by a reservoir, but it could not be found and he blamed his brother for moving it.

But Miss Pierpoint said that Taylor was only pretending to assist police.

"He knows its recovery would reveal the full extent of her injuries and assist police in establishing the cause of her death," she said.

The trial continues.