Pair found guilty of Weymouth man's manslaughter

The charges against 29 year old Day, from Woodthorpe Road, Ashford in Surrey and 39 year old Brown, from Lennox Street, Weymouth are in connection with the death of 75 year old John Cornish at his home on The Esplanade in September last year.

The pair have been found guilty today (Thursday 8th October) following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

They're due to be sentenced tomorrow (Friday 9th October).

WHAT HAPPENED?

The jury in the trial heard how Day, a class A drug user, regularly manipulated Mr Cornish for cash, gaining £30,000 from him over several years.

On the morning of 6th September 2019, Day met Brown, another drug user, but it's believed they weren't known to each other before that day.

The pair arrived at Mr Cornish's home, with the intention of getting money for drugs.

An altercation took place, with left the victim with injuries including a neck fracture, a bump to the head, bruising to his back and small puncture wounds caused by a knife or sharp object - Mr Cornish died at the scene.

It's thought that in addition to the injuries he suffered, he could have had a cardiac incident that also contributed to his death.

ALARM NOT RAISED UNTIL THE FOLLOWING DAY

Later on September 6th, following the death of Mr Cornish, Brown was seen on CCTV leaving the address and meeting a dealer to buy drugs, before going to Boots and Asda to buy Viagra.

While he was out, Day made a number of phone calls using Mr Cornish's landline.

The pair went out in Weymouth that evening, and returned back in the early hours of the following morning.

They spent the night there, with Brown leaving at around 9.20am on September 7th and Day leaving at around 10.00am.

It was then that she raised the alarm, claiming she'd just arrived to find Mr Cornish dead.

The victim's family found things out of place in the house, such as a cabinet which was found broken, and pieces of smashed crockery.

A hoover at the premises had pieces of crockey in the bag, with Brown's fingerprints on it, and a heart-shaped pendant, matching one seen on CCTV being worn by Day was also found there.

In police interviews afterwards, Day and Brown both admitted being at the premises, but blamed each other for the assault on Mr Cornish.

Day also pleaded guilty to theft and five counts of fraud by false representation relating to the theft of money from Mr Cornish in May 2019 and the use of his bank card.

Detective Chief Inspector Rich Dixey, of Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team, said:

"This conviction follows a detailed and complex investigation to track the movements and actions of Hannah Day and Aaron Brown in the hours leading up to and after John Cornish's sad death on the evening of Friday 6th September 2019.

"It is clear that while Day and Brown were at his address, John was assaulted and robbed and sadly a combination of the assault and an associated medical episode resulted in his death.

"While we may never know which defendant was the main aggressor in the assault, as both defendants made attempts to implicate each other, what we were able to prove through our investigation is that they acted together in the lead up to the incident and in the moments after. They therefore must both bear a share of the responsibility and I am glad that the jury's verdicts reflected this.

"I would like to thank all those involved in the investigation for helping to secure this conviction and John's family for their support throughout. Our thoughts remain with them at this sad time."