Slain woman's ex-partner charged

The ex-partner of slain Christchurch woman Christine Hindson has been charged with murder after her body was discovered more than a week after she disappeared.

Police found the body in a container hidden in scrubland in the Christchurch suburb of Ferrymead on Thursday. It was removed yesterday.

Because of the time that had passed, the body has still to be formally identified.

Ms Hindson's ex-partner, freezing worker Lewis Robert Blackburn, 48, has been charged with murdering Ms Hindson on September 6. A court order preventing his name being published lapsed last night.

Blackburn was living with Ms Hindson up until her death in her New Brighton home. He is being held in custody and has not yet entered a plea to the murder charge.

Ms Hindson disappeared on Tuesday last week and was reported missing on Thursday. She was well-known in the New Brighton community as a gardener and guardian of the environment.

Some of her family yesterday visited the site where her body was found.

Police investigating Ms Hindson's death have taken an interest in a sackbarrow and spade found a short drive from the body.