A BELLAMBI grandmother has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a young woman whose badly decomposed body was found buried in a backyard.

Patricia Goddard, 72, was in the Supreme Court today charged with the manslaughter of 18-year-old Louise Maree O’Brien.

Goddard originally pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in July.

The badly decomposed body of Ms O’Brien was unearthed from the backyard of the Bellambi home in February last year. Ms O’Brien was only reported missing a few days before her body was found, however police believe she could have disappeared any time after October 2009, when she became estranged from her family.

Police have said it was a member of the public who reported her missing last year.