Abi Fisher murder accused fails to appear in court due to Covid

Matthew Fisher, from Castleford, has been charged with killing Abi Fisher and dumping her body in undergrowth at the weekend.

He was due to appear via videolink this morning at Leeds Crown Court from prison where he is being held on remand, but was excused after testing positive for Coronavirus.

However, the preliminary hearing went ahead in his absence and the court was told a psychiatric report on the 29-year-old is due in August, with a pre-trial preparation hearing set for September 13.

A possible trial could take place in January next year.

There was no application for bail and Fisher, of Walton Park Street in Castleford, was remanded into custody again.

Abi Fisher, who worked as a teacher in Featherstone, was reported missing from her home over the weekend.

Her body was found near the village of Brierley on Sunday evening.

The family of Mrs Fisher, who has a young baby, have since released a statement paying tribute

It read: "Our beautiful Abi. Words cannot describe how utterly devastated we are at the loss of you. We miss you dearly. We promise to make you proud every single day, and will continue to bring up your amazing little baby girl the way you would.

"Heaven may have gained an angel but we have lost you and that for us seems like the most unjust act to happen.

“We as a family would like to thank every single person who showed enough heart and love to look for our precious angel. Words will never describe how much this means.

“For now our beautiful angel. We love you so much.”