THE rambling and incoherent 999 call made my Andrew Pearson was riddled with lies to hide the fact he had murdered his former partner, Teesside Crown Court heard.

North Yorkshire Police has released the recording after the 'evil' 45-year-old was jailed for abducting and killing Natalie Harker.

In it he can be heard crying and mumbling as the operator attempts to work out what has happened as Pearson told how she had slipped into water before he dragged her out to try and resuscitate her.

The operator had to repeatedly ask him to stop crying as he attempted to find out exactly what had happened on the day she died.

Pearson said: "I realised my tent was nearby so I dragged her into it and I did what you do – I thought she was breathing at this point and she seemed ok.

"It was blurry but I did what I was trained to do, I got stripped her off and got a blanket. I passed out and when I woke up she was purple."