THE boyfriend of Jayden Parkinson yesterday turned to her mother and said sorry after admitting being responsible for her death.

Ben Blakeley appeared in Oxford Crown Court and pleaded guilty to man-slaughter, but denied the teenager’s murder.

Jayden’s body was found a few days before Christmas in a grave at the Great Western Cemetery next to All Saints’ Church in Didcot, 15 days after she went missing.

The 22-year-old also confessed to perverting the course of justice by disposing of Jayden’s body and clothes after the killing, which took place in December last year.

During the hearing Blakeley, pictured, of Christ-church Road in Reading, turned to the teenager’s family after entering his pleas and said: “Sorry”.

This was met with tears and shouts from the packed public gallery as Blakeley sat emotionlessly in the dock.
His manslaughter plea was not accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service and a trial is still due to take place later this year.
A 17-year-old Didcot boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice at the same hearing.
On Sunday, the churchyard where Jayden was discovered was rededicated in a religious service by the Rt Rev Colin Fletcher and the Rev Karen Beck so it could be returned to its former status.
Former Didcot Girls’ School student Jayden had been missing from an Oxford hostel for more than two weeks before she was found.
Her funeral took place in her former home town of Cheriton, Kent, last month.
The trial is due to last two weeks and will begin on June 16 this year.
Neither defendant applied for bail and both were remanded in custody.

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