A 14-year-old girl whose head had been "smashed in" was found draped over the arm of a park bench after being raped and murdered, a court has heard.
A 16-year-old youth is alleged to have carried out a "sustained and ferocious" attack on Viktorija Sokolova in West Park in Wolverhampton earlier this year, before sexually abusing her dead body.
It is claimed he fractured her skull in a pavilion known as the "black house" after arranging to meet her using Facebook Messenger.
The youth, who cannot be named because of his age, denies murder, rape and sexual penetration of a corpse.
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Viktorija's body was found by a dog-walker at about 7am on 12 April.
"As he walked into the heart of the park, he saw what he initially thought was a blow-up doll resting on a park bench," Mr Rees told the jury.
"At first, he dismissed it as some sort of prank and continued with his walk," he added.
"However, on returning to the same area, he realised, no doubt to his horror, that the figure was the body of a young girl."
The top half of Viktorija's body was found "draped" over the arm of the bench, the court was told.
A post-mortem showed Viktorija had been "subjected to a sustained and ferocious attack to the head, which involved a minimum of 21 blows", Mr Rees said.
"The force of the attack was such that it caused multiple fractures of the underlying skullcap and her facial skeleton," he continued.
"In short, to put it into lay-person's terms, her head had been smashed in."
It is alleged that the youth dragged Viktorija's body about 150m (490ft) to the bench. The court was told the teenager had died before she was moved to the bench.
The boy accepts meeting Viktorija in the park and claims that consensual sexual activity took place, the jury was told.
It is "his case that Viktorija was alive and well when he parted from her in the park in order to go home", Mr Rees said.
CCTV will be shown to the court, Mr Rees added, suggesting the boy was carrying a backpack and changed his trousers while in the park between 10.44pm on 11 April and 12.44am on 12 April.
He is then alleged to have walked home before deleting Facebook messages and disposing of a bag.
More from Wolverhampton
The court heard that Viktorija's parents had a turbulent relationship with her and that she had been reported to police as a missing person after spending nights away from home in the months before her death.
The trial continues.
[contf]
[contfnew]
Sky News
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
