THE prosecution has started opening its case in the trial of the man accused of murdering Jayden Parkinson.

Ben Blakeley, of Christchurch Road, Reading, denies murdering the teenager on December 3 last year, but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and perverting the course of justice.

The 22-year-old and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who admits perverting the course of justice but denies preventing an unlawful burial, are being tried at Oxford Crown Court in a trial expected to last between two and three weeks.

Opening his case to the jury this morning Richard Latham QC has described Jayden's relationship with Blakeley as "controlling, obsessive and abusive".

He said the defendant told his girlfriend she wasn't allowed to shower or use the toilets at the One Foot Forward hostel where she lived and must stay in her room all the times.

Mr Lathan said Blakeley was often violent towards Jayden, with one neighbour reporting seeing her with a black eye and other bruises.

He also kept naked pictures and videos of her on his Blackberry mobile phone, the barrister said, which he threatened to put on Facebook if she didn't do what he said.

Mr Latham said Jayden split up with Blakeley on November 21 but she "sadly found it difficult to let go".

He told the jury the 17-year-old discovered she was pregnant and went to meet her ex-partner on the day she died to try and convince him the baby was his.

Mr Latham said: "She said she had to try and persuade him that he was the father."

Jayden was last seen alive on CCTV together with Blakeley at Didcot railway station on December 3 at 4.27pm.

Mr Latham said: "The prosecution case is that Jayden was killed by Blakeley in open countryside south of Didcot.

"There is no dispute between the prosecution and defence about the fact that the killing happened on that day in that open countryside."

Jayden’s body was found in a disturbed grave in the cemetery next to All Saints’ Church in Didcot on December 18 last year.

The trial continues.