Jurors in the Ian Stewart murder trial have visited the Royston home where he is accused of killing his partner Helen Bailey and dumping her body in a cesspit beneath the garage.

The seven men and five women of the jury at St Albans Crown Court went to the home in Baldock Road this morning and were shown the house and the garage where the bodies of Ms Bailey and her seven-year-old miniature dachshund Boris were found on July 15 last year – three months after she was reported missing by Mr Stewart.

The house – worth £1.5m – had a septic tank system in the garden, but police were initially unaware of the second cesspit in which the bodies were submerged.

Prosecutor Stuart Trimmer QC claims Mr Stewart drove Ms Bailey’s white jeep over the pit in the garage to obscure the cover.

When the the pit – filled with human excrement – was discovered, part of a human arm belonging to the 51-year-old author was seen in the crust, the court heard.

The jury were told that Mr Stewart, 56, drugged Ms Bailey with Zopliclone – an insomnia medication he had been prescribed in early 2016 – and killed her using ‘subtle means’ while she was sedated as there was no obvious signs of injury, probably by smothering or an arm lock across her neck.

When Home Office pathologist Dr Nat Cary gave evidence in court on Wednesday he said it was possible she could have been unconscious but alive when dumped in the pit, and then drowned.

Mr Stewart – originally from Letchworth – denies murder, preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body, fraud and three counts of perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues.