NEWS IN BRIEF

Garden Probed In Hunt

Police investigating the death of a young mother are excavating a garden near to where she went missing. Eighteen-year-old Nicola Payne, from Coventry, has not been seen since leaving her home in December, 1991. It is understood Ms Payne, who had a baby son, had been taking a short cut to her parents' home half a mile a way but she never arrived. West Midland Police say they are searching a garden in Winston Avenue, in the Wood End area of the city. A man was arrested last year in connection with her disappearance and was released on bail. Friends and family have raised £10,000 as a reward to anyone with information on what happened to her.

Woman Jailed For Grandmother Murder

A woman who killed her grandmother while she lay in her bed has been jailed. Joanne Hussey was told by a judge at Leeds Crown Court that she must serve at least 20 years in prison for murdering Annie Garbutt, 76, at her home in Clough, Mirfield on 7 May last year. Hussey, 33, of Yeadon, admitted manslaughter at her trial last month, saying that "voices in her head" made her do it. However, the court heard that Hussey would have made a financial gain from the killing. It is reported that Mrs Garbutt, who suffered from Alzheimer's, was repeatedly hit over the head and chest with a garden spade. Judge Scott Wolstenholme said that Hussey had taken "considerable care" to remove evidence that might have connected her to the killing. Hussey had initially told police that she had found her grandmother dead in her bedroom. Police who worked on the case reportedly described Hussey as "an accomplished liar" who committed a "particularly brutal and callous" crime.