A "trail" of eyewitness accounts, text messages, phone records and camera footage put undertaker John Taylor in the frame for the murder of his wife Alethea, Worcester Crown Court heard.

That trail challenged Taylor's own statements to police over the disappearance of Alethea from the couple's home in Orleton in January last year,said Michael Burrows, prosecuting.

Discrepancies and inconsistencies between Taylor's accounts of the disappearance and evidence gathered by police were crucial to the prosecution case, said Mr Burrows.

The court heard how 61-year-old Taylor was in an affair with a woman from nearby Brimfield and actively promoting his belief that 63-year-old Alethea was in the early stages of dementia.

Alethea, the court heard, kept secret notebooks detailing the  apparent break down of their relationship.

She vanished without trace in January last year.

Taylor denies murder.

 The case continues