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Drunk man claimed to have found Claudia's body
A DRUNKEN man wasted police time when he called to tell them he had unearthed the body of missing chef Claudia Lawrence.
Matthew Sleight was found slumped by a roadside after calling cops
and telling them he had found 35-year-old Claudia under a bush and had "dug her up".
The 26-year-old claimed he had found her by the A19 in Riccall, near Selby, North Yorkshire, around 15 miles from her home in York.
She has been missing since March 18 and an investigation into her disappearance - now being treated as suspected murder - has proved fruitless.
Steve Ovenden, prosecuting at Selby Magistrates Court, said officers were scrambled to the scene at 1.10am on June 19 following a call from ambulance staff alerting them to a body in the road.
They found Sleight slumped against a wooden fence, 'stinking of alcohol'.
He was arrested and spent a night in the cells before being charged with being drunk on the highway. He admitted the offence, as well as being in breach of a conditional discharge.
Sleight, who was representing himself, said: "I was just being stupid and idiotic. I was drunk and I'm sorry for wasting your time. It's time I took responsibility for my actions."
Bench chairman Ron Humphries revoked the existing conditional discharge and replaced it with another to last for 18 months, as well as ordering Sleight to pay 50 costs.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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