THREE men have admitted causing the death of a man whose injuries were “consistent with being repeatedly stamped on jumped on”.

Damien Sean Johnson, 31 and of Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, Hayden Johnson, 29, also of Christchurch Road and Dominic MacDonald, 30, of St John’s Road, Bournemouth, pleaded guilty to the man slaughter of 56-year-old Michael Bastable at Winchester Crown Court on Friday, July 8.

They also admitted charges or robbery relating to the incident involving Mr Bastable and a second incident on Wednesday, January 19.

Read more: Bank cards of man found dead in Bournemouth are used

Bournemouth Echo:

Damien and Hayden Johnson both also entered guilty pleas to a third robbery on Friday, January 21.

Dorset Police received a report at 3.03pm on Friday, January 14, from a member of the public who came across the unresponsive body of Mr Bastable in an alleyway off Shelbourne Road that runs parallel to the A338 Wessex Way.

Paramedics attended and Mr Bastable was pronounced dead at the scene. Tests carried out by the ambulance service indicated he was believed to have suffered a gastro-intestinal bleed.

Read more: Murder investigation launched in Bournemouth

Police initially treated the death was not treated as suspicious, however two days later were notified by the victim’s brother that he had been to Mr Bastable’s address and found his bike was missing.

Bournemouth Echo:

He had also returned to the scene where his brother had been found and located items in the area that he believed to belong to his brother.

It was subsequently discovered that the victim’s bank card had been used after his death and a full investigation was launched.

They obtained CCTV footage showing Mr Bastable walking in the direction of the alleyway shortly before 3pm, with the three defendants seen in the area moments later.

Further footage also captured the defendants leaving the alleyway, with Hayden Johnson riding a bicycle.

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Hayden Johnson brought a Scott mountain bike into Cash Generator in Christchurch Road at 3.40pm on the same day and sold it for £100.

A forensic post-mortem was carried out on Wednesday 26 January, which indicated Mr Bastable had died from injuries to his stomach area that were consistent with him being repeatedly stamped or jumped on while lying on his back on the ground.

Bournemouth Echo:

The defendants also assaulted a man and stole £460 cash in Christchurch Road on Wednesday, January 19.

Two days later another man was assaulted by three men in the basement area of an address in Christchurch Road. He was struck with a baseball bat and the men stole his watch and wallet.

The Johnson brothers were identified from CCTV footage of this incident. Hayden Johnson also sold a watch matching the one stolen during the robbery at Cash Generator the following day.

Bournemouth Echo:

Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour, of MCIT, said: “We carried out a comprehensive investigation with a meticulous review of vast amounts of CCTV footage to piece together the movements of these three men in the moments leading up to and following the sad death of Michael Bastable.

“Through this work we were able to prove that these men were involved in a joint enterprise to target Mr Bastable and subjected him to a violent robbery, which had fatal consequences.

“We were also able to compile evidence to prove their involvement in further robberies, which were also of a violent nature and extremely distressing for the victims involved.

“Our thoughts remain with the family of Mr Bastable and I would like to thank them for the support they have offered throughout our investigation and the court process.”

They will return to court to be sentenced on Friday July 15.