Trevor Dunkley jailed for murdering Patricia Lashley in 1998

Trevor Dunkley has been jailed for life after admitting he murdered his partner, Patricia Lashley, in 1998 and concealed her remains. The killing came to light during a renewed missing-person inquiry, nearly three decades after Lashley disappeared.

Lashley, 33, was last seen at Dunkley’s flat in Dudley on 1 September 1998. He told police he had repeatedly hit her around the head, hid her body in the cellar and later disposed of her bones in bins; he pleaded guilty to murder and preventing a lawful burial. The court set a minimum term of 10 years and 10 months, and heard that her nine-month-old son and six other children were left believing she had abandoned them.