Kevin Lee was an established landlord. He was always friendly and polite with our staff. We never had a problem with him. We’re surprised someone would want to hurt him.
ESTATE AGENTS BAIRSTOW EVES, WHICH MARKETED LEE’S PROPERTIES
Leslie Layton had already been arrested and charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice with respect to John Chapman, so he appeared before Peterborough Magistrates at 10am on Wednesday, 3 April 2013. He pleaded ‘Not Guilty’.
Chris McCann, CPS head of the Complex Case Unit East of England, then issued a press release, saying: ‘I have advised Cambridgeshire police to charge Gary Stretch, aged 47, in connection with the deaths of three men in Cambridgeshire, March 2013.’
On Friday, 5 April 2013, Gary Stretch was brought before Hereford Magistrates. In addition to the burglary offences and handling stolen property he was further charged with: ‘Encouraging or assisting in the commission of indictable offences, believing that one or more will be committed (under the Serious Crime Act 2007)’.
On Friday, 31 April, he was also charged with: ‘That between 17 March and 4 April 2013 and between 27 March and 4 April 2013, it is alleged that within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, without lawful excuse Gary Stretch conspired together with Leslie Layton and others to prevent the lawful and decent burial of Kevin Lee, John Chapman and Lukasz Slaboszewski’. Another charge followed; that of the attempted murder of Robin Bereza on 2 April, at Hereford. He pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ to all of the charges.
Perhaps one of the most recent cases of prevention of the lawful and decent burial of a dead body was when Hans Kristian Rausing, heir to Hans Rausing, who owns the multinational food and packaging company, Tetra Pak, was charged with the offence following the 17 July 2012 discovery of the corpse of his wife, Eva Rausing, at their London home. He was given a suspended prison sentence, but this common law offence has no maximum penalty. It is an offence that can vary enormously in its severity, the most important factor being the intention of the offender.
In Layton’s case the intention was to obstruct the course of justice by concealing a body so as to make it difficult to bring home a charge against a person responsible for the death. In such a case a sentence at the top of the scale was required. Layton would soon get just that.
On Monday, 15 April 2013, Robert Moore was charged with assisting an offender and lying to police for which he would later earn three years imprisonment. He appeared before Peterborough Magistrates on Monday, 22 April, and pleaded ‘Not Guilty’. Later, after Dennehy flip-flopped her original not guilty plea, in December 2013 Moore pled guilty.
On Wednesday, 8 May 2013, Joanne Dennehy was charged with three counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, and three counts of prevention of the lawful and decent burial of a dead body. She was remanded in custody to appear before Peterborough Magistrates on 30 May, when Crown Prosecutor Cheryl Williams told the Bench that the matter was too serious to be dealt with by them, that the case had to be referred to the Crown Court. Representing Dennehy, Martin Newman said there was no application for bail and no plea by his client at the present time.
On Tuesday, 4 June 2013, prosecutor Chris McCann announced: ‘That between 27 March 2013 and 4 April 2013, it is alleged that within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, without lawful excuse Leslie Layton conspired together with Gary Stretch and other persons to prevent the lawful and decent burial of the dead bodies of Kevin Lee, John Chapman and Lukasz Slaboszewski.’ Layton would appear before Peterborough Magistrates on Wednesday, 5 June. McCann then issued a warning to the media: ‘…and this decision to charge was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Leslie Layton now faces very serious criminal offences and has the right to a fair trial.’
Joanne Dennehy would next appear before Mr Justice Sweeney at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday, 6 June. Here, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the East of England, Grace Ononiwu, said that Dennehy was charged with three counts of murder: that of Lukasz Slaboszewski, on or about March 21, and Kevin Lee and John Chapman, on or about March 29, 2013. The Prosecutor added: ‘Joanne Dennehy now stands charged with very serious offences and the right to a fair trial.’
All four defendants (the men via video links from prison) next appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday, 6 September. For legal reasons Dennehy did not enter any plea at all. However, Stretch, Layton and Moore pleaded ‘Not Guilty’ to all charges.