Inquest: Murdered Sian 'Died Of Head Wounds' - Sky News

4:49pm UK, Friday April 01, 2011

Nick Martin, Sky News reporter

The inquest into the death of Sian O'Callahan has heard that the 22-year-old personal assistant probably died from head injuries.

Sian went missing after a night out in Swindon

Sian's parents did not attend the brief hearing at Oxford Coroner's Court.

She went missing on March 19 after a night out with friends in her home town of Swindon.

Her body was found a week later near the Uffington White Horse near Oxfordshire.

The discovery followed a large scale search of the nearby Savernake Forest, where her mobile phone signal was last traced.

Taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, 47, has appeared in court charged with murder.

Detectives are still investigating human remains found during the investigation last week.

They are believed to belong to a woman aged between 23 and 30.

Mrs O'Callaghan described news of her daughter's death as "the worst of the worst".

"I always had hope but I still tried to prepare myself for the worst," she told the Swindon Advertiser newspaper.

"It was the worst of the worst that I could've imagined. But they'd found her.

"It was a relief in a way. I would have hated to live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder and looking at every brunette girl, wondering if it was her."

Miss O'Callaghan had been out with friends before she disappeared in the early hours of March 19.

She was last seen alive in CCTV footage filmed close to the Suju nightclub, only half a mile from the flat she shared with her boyfriend, Kevin Reape, 25.

Sian cannot be buried until Halliwell's defence team have decided whether or not to exercise their right to request a second post-mortem examination.

Outside court, Mr Fulcher said Sian's family were "bearing up" but added: "It is a horrific trauma for them.

"I want them to have closure and they need to organise her funeral."

The inquest has been adjourned.