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Google PlayA Derbyshire man has appeared in court having been accused of storing a dead body inside a freezer and then using the victim’s bank card.
On Tuesday (May 2), 54-year-old Damion Johnson pleaded guilty to keeping 71-year-old John Wainwright’s body in a freezer two years after his death; Wainwright’s cause of death has not yet been determined.
According to Sky News, the offence is believed to have taken place when the pair lived together in Birmingham city centre between September 2018 and August 2020.
During the trial, Johnson—of Sun Street, Derby—admitted one count of preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body, but denied the three cases of fraud by false representation, which included cash withdrawals, payment for goods and the transferring of funds.
Judge Shaun Smith KC told Johnson, who remains on bail, that he would face sentencing on November 7.
Mitigating, Raglan Ashton said: “He says he was not acting dishonestly, namely that he maintains that he was entitled to the funds in Mr Wainwright’s account. The arrangement was that monies would be paid jointly into Mr Wainwright’s account, so essentially he maintains that it was his funds in Mr Wainwright’s account and in short he was entitled to them.”
