An axe killer lied to police about murdering his ex-girlfriend by claiming he accidentally hit her while aiming at a tree for a bet. 

The body of Katie Kenyon, 33, was found in an area of forest in Lancashire in April this year, a week after she vanished suddenly. 

On Wednesday Andrew Burfield, her ex-boyfriend, pleaded guilty to murdering the mother-of-two, a charge he had initially denied.

Jurors at Preston Crown Court were told that Burfield had dug a grave in the Forest of Bowland the day before carrying out the fatal attack.

The 51-year-old later told police that he had killed Ms Kenyon after she challenged him during a picnic to hit a can of coke with his axe. The court heard he told police: "I went for the tree at the side of her and it hit her in [her] head."

However, despite claiming Ms Kenyon had struck been with the back of the axe and sustained no further injuries, a post-mortem examination showed she was struck around 12 times. 

David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, told the jury that the nature of her injuries indicated the use of a “heavy-edged weapon” such as an axe or a spade.

The defendant then sent messages to himself and his victim's children from her phone, the jury was told.

On Wednesday, Burfield was re-arraigned on the charge on Wednesday morning and the jury in the case formally found him guilty.