The father of a teenager from Folkestone has died just days before his daughter’s alleged killer was due to stand trial.

Paul Parkinson died on Thursday aged 48 of a heart attack.

Mr Parkinson is understood to have been visiting friends in Folkestone at the time.

His brother Glen is reported to have said that the stress of the trial had killed him.

He said: “The stress of the trial has caused it. He was desperate for justice to be done.”

He also wrote on Facebook: “R.I.P. My Big Brother Paul Parkinson, be at peace with Jayden, gonna miss you bro xxx”

Jayden’s body was found in a graveyard in Didcot, Oxfordshire just before Christmas after she disappeared on December 3 last year.

In March, Ben Blakeley - Jayden’s former boyfriend - denied murdering the 17-year-old.

He also admitted to burying Jayden’s body and disposing of her clothing.

A 17-year-old Didcot boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is also to face trial accused of perverting the course of justice by helping to dispose of her body.

In January, Jayden’s funeral was held at St Martin’s Church in Horn Street, Cheriton.

Hundreds of mourners gathered before the teenager was laid to rest in the church cemetery surrounded by flowers.

Jayden and her family lived in Tennyson Place in Folkestone before moving away several years ago.

Blakeley, 22, from Reading, is due to stand trial in Oxford next week.