A jury at Liverpool Crown Court has heard that George Gordon kept the body of his friend Delia McInerney in a chest freezer for nearly three years after her death in April 2023. Prosecutors allege he also used her identity to obtain money, credit cards and loans while telling friends she was elsewhere.

Gordon, 65, admits killing McInerney but denies murder, saying he acted in self-defence. He also denies causing unnecessary suffering to animals. McInerney was 62 and was due to move to Portugal days after she died.

Her dismembered body and five dead guinea pigs were found in Gordon’s flat in St Helens on 8 January this year, prosecutor Martin Reid KC told the court. The animals were found in the freezer, and examinations indicated they had drowned.

The prosecution said Gordon had told McInerney’s friends for more than 18 months that she was elsewhere, and impersonated her in emails and phone messages. Reid said Gordon obtained thousands of pounds from her accounts and secured credit cards in her name while her body remained in the flat.

The jury heard that Gordon initially told police he had struck McInerney with a hammer to “end her suffering” after she took an overdose. He now says he acted in self-defence, the prosecutor said.

Reid said Gordon bought items including a sledgehammer and handsaw after learning McInerney planned to relocate to Portugal with her guinea pigs. He also collected prescriptions for medication later found in her system, the court heard. On 11 April, Gordon recorded a video of McInerney with the animals; prosecutors said it was the last footage of her alive.

McInerney is alleged to have been killed on the evening of 11 April or in the early hours of 12 April. Later that day, more than £2,000 was transferred from her bank accounts to Gordon, the jury was told. He then ordered a chest freezer, after going to a pub for breakfast, according to the prosecution.

Gordon travelled to Portugal on 24 April and visited a property owned by McInerney there. Prosecutors said he continued posing as her in messages to friends and neighbours.

The prosecution said the deception began to unravel in December 2025, after someone using the name Chris Cavendish-Gordon contacted the Department for Work and Pensions, claimed to be a social worker and asked for McInerney’s personal independence payment to be moved to another account. Gordon was arrested at his flat on 8 January. As officers escorted him out, he reportedly told them: “She’s in there,” and added that she was “in the freezer”.

Gordon did not appear in the dock at the start of the trial. The case is expected to last six weeks and is continuing.

Sources: BBC News UK.