BREAKING: Scott Walker found guilty of murdering Bernadette

Bernadette was last seen on July 18 last year, when Scott Walker went to pick her up from her grandparents home in Werrington. In the few days prior to July 18, Bernadette had made allegations Scott Walker - known to Bernadette as dad but not her biological father - had been sexually abusing her.

Bernadette’s body has never been found.

Today a unanimous verdict was delivered by the jury, with Scott Walker found guilty of murder.

Sobs were heard in the court after the verdict was delivered.

Scott Walker claimed that Bernadette had simply got out of the car and walked off. However, the jury at Cambridge Crown Court did not believe his lies, and he now faces a life sentence following the end of the trial that lasted more than five weeks.

The court has heard that shortly after Scott Walker picked Bernadette up from her grandparents, his phone was switched off for a length of time. The prosecution say that this is when he killed the teenager.

The prosecution told the jury they were unable to say how Scott Walker killed Bernadette, or where her body had been disposed of. At the start of the trial they said Bernadette’s body could have been stored in lock up garages used by Scott and Sarah Walker, before being taken to Cowbit in the early hours of July 20 last year and left in countryside. At the end of the trial they said it was also a possibility Bernadette was murdered somewhere in the Fens, and her body disposed of there.

During the trial, the court also heard that Bernadette’s phone and social media accounts were accessed after she went missing, with passwords changed, and messages sent.

Scott and Sarah Walker both faced charges of perverting the course of justice relating to the use of the phone and social media accounts, and providing false information to the police. Sarah Walker had pleaded guilty to two counts, and not guilty to two counts, while Scott Walker had pleaded not guilty to four counts. Two of the perverting the course of justice charges related to the defendants believing Bernadette was dead, while the other two related to the defendants believing she was alive - Sarah Walker pleaded guilty to the latter two.

Scott Walker was convicted of murder and two counts of perverting the course of justice, relating to knowing or believing she was dead. The jury were not asked to deliver verdicts on the other two perverting the course of justice counts, as they were ‘alternative’ counts.

No verdicts have been given for the charges against Sarah Walker, and the jury were told that a majority verdict would be acceptable for those counts. This means that a verdict on which at least 10 jurors are agreed can be taken.

Scott Walker (51) of Century Square, Peterborough and Sarah Walker (39) of Century Square, Peterborough, were remanded into custody, and will be sentenced on a date in the future, likely to be September 10.

However, Scott Walker will face a mandatory life sentence for his murder conviction.