Men ‘drove for hours ringing hookers as schoolgirl lay dying in the back after being throttled and plied with drugs’
A GIRL of 16 was left to die on the back seat of a car as the two men accused of killing her drove around while ringing hookers and stopping to buy beer, a court heard.
A-level pupil Megan Bannister was found half-covered by a coat, lying in the back of the Vauxhall Astra after it crashed near Enderby, Leics.
Megan, who wanted to be a midwife, appeared lifeless with witnesses describing how her "lips were blue".
However, she had suffered no fatal injuries as a result of the smash on May 14, a Birmingham Crown Court jury was told.
A pathologist concluded she died either from being strangled or a drug overdose - but they were unable to pinpoint the precise mechanism.
Driver Jason Burder and passenger Adam King, both 28, are accused of manslaughter by gross negligence by supplying Megan with the drug MDMA, strangling her and then neglecting her life-threatening condition.
Prosecutors allege Burder and King plied the teenager with alcohol and ecstasy then drove round with her in a "perilous state" for nearly four hours. Both deny any wrongdoing.
A Snapchat video, possibly shot in Burder's bedroom earlier that day, showed Megan "out of it" and apparently "fitting", the court heard.
Jurors were told they one young girl who had previous dealings with Burder told him when she saw the footage of Megan: "You spiked her, like you spiked me".
Blood tests revealed the victim had ten times more MDMA in her system than either of the two men despite the pair claiming they had taken an equal amount.
The court heard how Burder had pretended to be 21 to convince chip shop worker Megan to meet with him on May 12.
The pair met again the following night and in the early hours of the morning of May 14 picked up two grams of MDMA along with King, a DHL loader, and went to Burder's house.
Post mortem tests showed Burder's semen inside and on the victim, as well as "unusually" under King's fingernails, it was said.
Miranda Moore QC, opening the prosecution case, said Burder's mother spotted her son and King supporting a "drunk" Megan into the car.
She asked her son: "Is everything all right?", and he allegedly replied: "Yeah - I'm just taking her home."
The QC said: "They could have taken her to Leicester Royal Infirmary, they could have phoned 999, or asked Mrs Burder for her help. But they didn't."
Miss Moore added: "Megan Bannister's phone was left behind at the house. She did not get into that car willingly."
Jurors were told phone analysis, number plate recognition roadside cameras and shop receipts would show how instead of driving Megan to seek help, the men spent hours driving around until they crashed into a motorbike at 11.45am.
At 8.06am they pulled up at a shop and bought £15.08 of lager and cigarettes. CCTV showed King walking back to the Vauxhall and he "appears to be looking at the back seat of the car", Miss Moore said.
From 8.46am, there were "calls to escorts - working girls - and websites" with listings such as "busty, exotic brunette", and "escort - will blow your mind", the court heard.
After the crash two men showed "no concern" for the motorcyclist and his pillion passenger, and claimed Megan was "asleep", it was said.
Miss Moore said: "These two men, we say, were responsible for putting her in that situation, and having done so chose deliberately not to seek help.
"But they were aware enough to drive a car, spend all that time looking for working girls, buy beer, drink beer, and smoke."
Miss Moore said Burder and King, who were arrested at the crash scene, had "collective amnesia" about what had happened to Megan, although Burder claimed King "spiked" his beer.
The prosecutor added: "Their behaviour at the scene and complete lack of concern may indicate to you that by the time of the crash they accepted that Megan was already dead - and they still did nothing."
Burder and King, both of Leicester, have pleaded not guilty. The trial continues.
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