THREE men have admitted causing the death of a man whose injuries were “consistent with being repeatedly pushed and jumped on”.
Damien Sean Johnson, 31, also of Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Hayden Johnson, 29, also of Christchurch Road, and Dominic McDonald, 30, of St John’s Road, Bournemouth, pleaded guilty to murdering 56-year-old Michael Bastable at Winchester Crown Court on Friday, July 8.
They also admitted charges or robbery relating to the incident with Mr Bastable and a second incident on Wednesday January 19.
Read more: Bank cards used on man found dead in Bournemouth
Damien and Hayden Johnson also pleaded guilty to a third robbery on Friday, January 21.
Dorset Police were called at 3.03pm on Friday January 14 by a member of the public who came across Mr Bastable’s unresponsive body in an alley off Shelbourne Road, which runs alongside the A338 Wessex Way.
Paramedics attended and Mr Bastable was pronounced dead at the scene. Tests carried out by the ambulance service showed he was believed to have suffered a gastrointestinal haemorrhage.
Read more: Inquest launched into Bournemouth murder
Police initially thought the death was not being treated as suspicious, but two days later the victim’s brother advised he had been to Mr Bastable’s address and discovered his bike was missing.
He also returned to the location where his brother was found and found items in the area that he believed belonged to his brother.
It was subsequently discovered that the victim’s bank card had been used after his death and a full investigation was launched.
They obtained CCTV footage showing Mr Bastable walking in the direction of the lane shortly before 3pm, with the three accused seen in the area shortly afterwards.
Additional footage also captured the defendants leaving the driveway with Hayden Johnson riding a bicycle.
Read more: Trial date set for Bournemouth men accused of murder
Hayden Johnson brought a Scott mountain bike to Cash Generator on Christchurch Road at 3.40pm the same day and sold it for £100.
A post-mortem examination was carried out on Wednesday, January 26, which showed that Mr Bastable died from injuries to the stomach area which were consistent with being repeatedly punched or jumped on while he was lying on his back on the ground.
The accused also assaulted a man and stole £460 in cash in Christchurch Road on Wednesday 19 January.
Two days later, another man was attacked by three men in the basement at an address on Christchurch Road. He was hit with a baseball bat and the men stole his watch and wallet.
The Johnson brothers were identified from video surveillance of that incident. Hayden Johnson also sold a watch matching the one stolen in the Cash Generator robbery the next day.
Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour, from MCIT, said: “We carried out a thorough investigation with a thorough review of a huge amount of CCTV footage to piece together the movements of these three men in the moments leading up to and following the sad death of Michael Bastable.
“Through this work, we were able to prove that these men were involved in a joint effort to target Mr. Bastable and subject him to a violent robbery that had fatal consequences.
“We were also able to gather evidence to prove their involvement in further robberies which were also violent in nature and extremely distressing to the victims involved.
“Our thoughts remain with Mr Bastable’s family and I would like to thank them for the support they have offered throughout our investigation and legal process.”
They will return to court for sentencing on Friday, July 15.
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