Teenage boy used 'horrific' violence to kill 14-year-old girl before sexually abusing dead body, court hears

Viktorija Sokolova struck at least 21 times with hammer-like weapon in ‘sustained and ferocious attack’, jury told

Viktorija Sokolova’s body was found in a Wolverhampton park in April (West Midlands Police)

A teenager repeatedly bludgeoned a 14-year-old girl in the head in a “sustained and ferocious attack” before raping her and dumping her partially-clothed body in a park, a court has heard.

The 16-year-old boy struck Viktorija Sokolova at least 21 times with a blunt weapon “like a hammer” after contacting her over social media, a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The youth, who cannot be named because of his age, used Facebook’s messaging service to arrange to meet Sokolova in the city’s West Park in April.

He is alleged to have killed her in a pavilion known as the “black house” before sexually abusing her dead body, which he dragged 150 metres and “draped” over the arm of a bench.

A dog-walker found Sokolova’s body early on 12 April, the court heard.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees told the jury: “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.

“However, on returning to the same area, he realised, no doubt to his horror, that the figure was the body of a young girl.”

A post-mortem examination concluded Sokolova, who was originally from Lithuania and living in Wolverhampton, died from blunt force trauma to the head.

She “had been subjected to a sustained and ferocious attack to the head, which involved a minimum of 21 blows,” the prosecutor said.

He added: “The force of the attack was such that it caused multiple fractures of the underlying skullcap and her facial skeleton.

“In short, to put it into lay-person’s terms, her head had been smashed in.”

Evidence indicated Sokolova was dead before she was “positioned over the park bench”, Mr Rees said.

He told the jury: “Whatever the nature of the sexual activity, the prosecution say that this is a case of murder, in that the evidence establishes that it was the defendant who carried out the fatal attack, and at the time he did so, he intended either to kill Viktorija or to cause her really serious bodily injury.”

Jurors heard the boy accepted meeting Sokolova in the park, where he claims consensual sexual activity took place. He denies murder.

Mr Rees said: “We understand it is his case that Viktorija was alive and well when he parted from her in the park in order to go home.

“It follows therefore, on his case, that someone else, or some other people, must have come along after he left and were responsible for attacking her and stripping her, before leaving her partially naked over the bench.”

The trial continues and is expected to last for at least two weeks.

Additional reporting by Press Association