THE father of a teenage mother whose skeletal remains were found in woodland was last night charged with perverting the course of justice in connection with the investigation into her murder.
Children playing in Redgeland Wood, in the Queensway area of St Leonards, near Hastings, East Sussex, found a human skull last October.
Further remains were later found around the woodland scene, and medical records were used to identify them as those of 19-year-old Victoria Couchman.
Her father, Tony Couchman, 45, of Beecham Place, St Leonards, was remanded in custody and will appear at Hastings Magistrates’ Court this morning.
It was originally thought the remains had lain in the woods, near the Wishing Tree Reservoir, for up to 10 years.
But, following the further discoveries, police revised their estimate and said they believed Ms Couchman, a single mother who lived with her father about a mile from the woodland, went missing some time last May.
Messages of condolence were left on the social networking website Bebo.
