Man guilty of murdering ex-boxer

A 29-year-old man has been found guilty of the murder of a man whose body was dismembered and found in freezers at his home.

Thomas Dunkley of no fixed address was convicted at Leicester Crown Court of the murder of Shaun Cummins and two counts of fraud.

45-year-old Shaun Cummins lived in a bungalow in Marriott Road, Leicester. The property was adapted for him after he was left paralysed from the waist down following a car crash in 2004. He was a professional boxer in the 1980s and 1990s.

Cummins and Dunkley met in 2007 and Dunkley began running errands for Shaun and was eventually trusted by him to deal with some of his personal banking. He was considered to be Shaun's carer.

Nurses visited the bungalow on 1st September 2012. This was the last time that Mr Cummins was seen alive. When they visited the property the following day, Dunkley stopped them outside stating Shaun had been admitted to hospital and he would let them know when he was discharged and back at home.

Police say that between September 1 and 2, Dunkley went online and searched "what happens when you are stabbed in the stomach?" and "how long does it take to die after you are stabbed?".

In the days that followed, Dunkley withdrew nearly £11,000 from Cummins's bank account and spent the money on clothes, meals out, hotels and he bought a car.

On September 7th, he started to dismember the body of Mr Cummins and was caught on CCTV buying a chain saw, incinerator and items such as overalls, face masks and sacks. The next day, he bought a chest freezer using one of Shaun's bank cards.

A nurse raised them alarm when she contacted the hospital and found no record of Mr Cummins being admitted. She called his mobile phone, but Mr Dunkley answered and lied to her but she called the police.

The police went to Mr Cummins's home and forced entry. It was there that they found his decomposed body parts wrapped up and stored in three freezers.

A post mortem examination was carried out and it was not possible to determine a cause of death.

Dunkley was arrested in the early hours of September 13 at a service station on the M1 in West Yorkshire after leaving Leicester.

The senior investigating officer in the case gave a statement after sentencing at Leicester Crown Court:

The family of Mr Cummins thanked the police after the verdict was delivered.

Judge Mrs Justice Dobbs sentenced Mr Dunkley to life imprisonment and ordered he serve a minimum term of 34 years.