'Unofficial carer' found guilty of man's murder

An "unofficial carer" has been found guilty of murdering a man whose body went undiscovered for 12 days.

The body of Leon Pratt, 64, was found wrapped in a duvet at his home in Downemead in Hollinswood, Telford, in October 2024.

Jason Trundle was found guilty at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday, and previously pleaded guilty to preventing a lawful burial and fraud by false representation after using Pratt's bank card in a shop while he lay dead.

The 52-year-old will be sentenced on Friday.

Trundle had moved in with Pratt, who had several health conditions and used a wheelchair and walking sticks, after they met on social media, the court previously heard.

Jurors were told Trundle had nowhere to live and moved in with Pratt to provide him day-to-day care.

The pair had known each other for about a year-and-a-half.

During a previous hearing, prosecution counsel Richard Barraclough KC said: "He told Mr Pratt he was homeless and was invited to live with him. He was Mr Pratt's unofficial carer."

Pratt was discovered after neighbours called emergency services on 26 October 2024 to report they had not seen Pratt, who was "very switched on".

The paramedics told the court how they could "smell something putrid like rotting flesh coming from the property".

Bodycam footage worn by them showed Trundle pointing to a closed bedroom door, and saying: "He's been dead for about 12 days."

A post-mortem examination found Pratt had internal injuries to his ribs, lower back and his throat and neck structures.

The court heard previously that he had several fractured ribs, that would have been caused by a force equivalent to a fall from standing height onto a hard surface, with seven fractures to part of the neck "most probably caused by manual strangulation".

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