Man admits murder of Dudley mother who disappeared 28 years ago

A man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a mother of seven who vanished near her home almost thirty years ago.

Patricia Lashley, who was 33 at the time, was last seen near her home on Hall Street, Dudley, in September 1998.

Trevor Dunkley told police he disposed of Patricia Lashley's decomposed body gradually in household waste in the months after killing her.

The 66-year-old pleaded guilty to her murder and a separate count of preventing her lawful burial at a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday.

Dunkley, of Himley Road in Dudley, showed no emotion in the dock as his barrister, Balbir Singh, told a judge that the charges had been brought based on a police interview.

Asked by Judge Michael Chambers KC if the victim’s body had been found, Mr Singh answered: "No, because this is 28 years ago and the body was put into the cellar downstairs.

"It decomposed. When he was moving about nine months to a year later the skeleton was disposed of into the bins."

Asked if there was a basis of plea, Mr Singh said of the case: "It is down to what the defendant told the police when there was no evidence in reality of what had happened."

He said the pair had met while Patricia was pregnant and living in Dudley, and soon after, she moved into Dunkley's flat in Hall Street.

Dunkley claimed Patricia had been abusive and violent, culminating in her death in September 1998, although this hasn't been corroborated.

On the day of the murder, Dunkley claimed he had returned home after a night shift and had attacked her while she was in bed - saying the "red mist" had descended.

After the murder, Dunkley, who was 38 at the time, told detectives he took Patricia's child to Social Services, telling them she had left him and abandoned her baby.

Detective Inspector Michelle Cordell, from West Midlands Police said: "This was a truly harrowing case in which a young mother was murdered inside the home she shared with her partner and her baby.

"Trevor Dunkley is the only living person who truly knows what happened that day.

"He has provided an account of events which, sadly, we cannot corroborate.

"His actions afterwards are unspeakably cruel. It is difficult for anyone to comprehend how he could live for so long, knowing what he had done and within the same location he had deposited her body.

"His calculated and sophisticated plan to dispose of her remains in household waste took careful planning.

"Not only did he deprive Patricia a lawful or decent burial, he robbed her family of the opportunity to lay her to rest.

"For decades, they have had to live without answers and with the hope that one day she would return. There can be no justification for his actions."

Dunkley, appearing in the dock wearing round-rimmed glasses and a grey sweater, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 6 November.

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