THREE men have admitted to causing the death of a man whose wounds were “consistent with being repeatedly stamped on a jump.”
Damien Sean Johnson, 31, of Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Hayden Johnson, 29, also of Christchurch Road, and Dominic MacDonald, 30, of St John’s Road, Bournemouth, pleaded guilty to the killing of men. by Michael Bastable, 56, of Winchester. Crown Court on Friday, July 8th.
They also admitted charges or robberies related to the incident of Mr. Bastable and a second incident on Wednesday, January 19th.
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Damien and Hayden Johnson also pleaded guilty to a third robbery on Friday, January 21st.
Dorset police received a report at 3:03 p.m. on Friday 14 January from a member of the public who found Mr Bastable’s insensitive body in an alley on Shelbourne Road running parallel to the A338 Wessex Way.
Paramedics attended and Mr. Bastable was pronounced dead at the scene. Tests conducted by the ambulance service indicated that he was believed to have suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding.
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Police initially treated the death was not treated as suspicious, but two days later it was reported by the victim’s brother who had gone to Mr. Bastable’s address and found that his bicycle had disappeared.
He had also returned to the place where he had found his brother and located items in the area that he believed belonged to his brother.
It was later discovered that the victim’s bank card had been used after his death and a full investigation was initiated.
They obtained CCTV footage showing Mr. Bastable walking in the direction of the alley shortly before 3 p.m., with the three defendants seen in the area moments later.
More images also captured the defendants coming out of the alley, with Hayden Johnson riding a bicycle.
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Hayden Johnson took a Scott mountain bike to Cash Generator on Christchurch Road at 3.40pm the same day and sold it for £ 100.
A forensic autopsy was performed on Wednesday, January 26, which indicated that Mr. Bastable had died from wounds in the stomach area that were consistent with having been repeatedly stamped or skipped while he was lying on his back on the floor.
Defendants also assaulted a man and stole £ 460 in cash on Christchurch Road on Wednesday 19 January.
Two days later, another man was attacked by three men in the basement area of 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 CCTV footage of that incident. Hayden Johnson also sold a watch that matched the steal during the robbery to Cash Generator the next day.
Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour of MCIT said: “We conducted a thorough investigation with a meticulous review of large amounts of CCTV footage to gather the movements of these three men in the moments before and after the sad death of Michael Bastable.
“With this work we were able to show that these men were involved in a joint venture to target Mr Bastable and subjected him to a violent robbery, which had fatal consequences.
“We were also able to gather evidence to prove their involvement in other robberies, which were also violent and extremely distressing for the victims involved.
“Our thoughts remain with Mr. Bastable’s family and I would like to thank them for the support they have offered during our investigation and judicial process.”
They will return to court to be sentenced on Friday, July 15.