SNAPSHOT – A man who strangled a woman in his Coventry flat and buried her body in woodland has been jailed for 18 years for manslaughter.
Man jailed for killing woman in Coventry and hiding body
Ground worker Mohammed Durnion, 42, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter over the death of Reanne Coulson, 33.
She died inside his flat in Coventry on May 21 last year before her body was hidden in a shallow grave in nearby woodland.
Jurors at Warwick Crown Court cleared Durnion of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter by a majority verdict of 11-1.
Court hears how victim was strangled and body concealed
Prosecutors said Ms Coulson had been attacked and strangled, causing her death. The court heard evidence that part of her body had been set on fire using petrol.
Durnion claimed she had died from a drugs overdose after he had taken “stupid amounts” of cocaine, before panicking and disposing of her body.
The judge said the evidence showed she had been strangled, stating: “There were fractures to the structures of the neck. I am satisfied that a hand placed around her neck was the means by which they were sustained.”
Police missed body despite neighbour reports
Neighbours had alerted police after hearing a woman “screaming in fear” inside the flat, but officers who attended did not find the body, which had been hidden under a mattress.
Police later located the makeshift grave after Durnion directed officers to the woodland following a public appeal.
Second man jailed for helping conceal the body
Adam Moore, 39, was sentenced to six years in prison after being convicted of assisting an offender by helping to hide the body in Binley Woods.
Passing sentence, Judge Kristina Montgomery KC said Durnion had shown “total contempt for her in life and in death”.
She told him: “You put her body into a suitcase. You drove around with it on board… to scope out locations where you might dispose of her body.”