03 May 2023 , 10:01
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A man has pleaded guilty after he hid a man's body in a freezer for two years.
John Wainwright, 71, died in September 2018 but his body was not discovered in the freezer until August 2020.
Damion Johnson, 52, appeared at Derby Crown Court today where he pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body.
Johnson, who appeared at Derby Crown Court this morning, wore a black and grey Las Vegas Raiders American football jacket, patterned trousers and deck shoes.
It is understood that Mr Wainwright's cause of death has not yet been determined.
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However, he pleaded not guilty to three counts of fraud.
Johnson pleaded not guilty to three counts of fraud (Derby Telegraph/Martin Naylor)
Johnson pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body (Derby Telegraph/Martin Naylor)Johnson is accused of using Mr Wainwright's bank card on repeated occasions to pay for goods, withdrew money from ATM machines and transferred funds to his own bank account.
Raglan Ashton, defending, has told the hearing Johnson's defence will be that the money in Mr Wainwright's account was joint funds which he was entitled to use.
He 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.”
Details about the allegations were not disclosed at Johnson's first court hearing in March at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court.
It was heard that the alleged offences took place when Johnson and Mr Wainwright lived at a flat together in Birmingham city centre.
The charges are:
Preventing the lawful and decent burial of a dead body between September 1, 2018 and August 22, 2020.
Fraud in that he used Mr Wainwright's bank card on repeated occasions to pay for goods.
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Fraud in that he used Mr Wainwright's bank card to withdraw money from ATM machines.
Fraud in that he transferred money from Mr Wainwright's bank accounting to his own.
A trial for the fraud charges has been set for November 7 this year.