Man who hid woman’s body from police then buried her in woods is cleared of murder

A ground worker who buried a woman in a shallow woodland grave after she was last heard screaming and crying for help inside his flat has been cleared of her murder.

Mohammed Durnion, 42, was said to have strangled Reanne Culson, 33, at his flat in Paynes Lane, Coventry, on the night of May 21 last year.

A neighbour called 999 after hearing what he described as a woman ‘screaming in fear’ from Durnion’s flat, but officers who arrived there minutes later found no trace of Reanne.

Jurors at Warwick Crown Court heard Durnion had hidden her body under a mattress, where it lay as officers contended with him feigning a mental health crisis.

Reanne’s body was found nearly six weeks later buried in a shallow woodland grave.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray KC told jurors the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination found marks of injury to her head and neck which ‘had been caused when Reanne was still alive’.

Durnion could give no explanation at his trial for those severe neck and head injuries suffered by the mum, who was 5ft 1ins and weighed less than nine stone.

He was seen by a witness smirking while carrying a suitcase he had used to move her body and went on a drugs binge before his arrest.

Durnion was found not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter by a majority 11-1 verdict today.

The labourer told them Reanne died from a drugs overdose on the night of May 21 last year, when he had taken ‘stupid amounts’ of cocaine.

He said he panicked, before burying her body in woodland five miles from his home.

Jurors also convicted Durnion’s friend and fellow ground worker Adam Moore of assisting an offender on May 22 by helping in the disposal of Ms Coulson’s body in Binley Woods.

Moore, 39, of Marlcroft, Willenhall, Coventry, had denied the charge, claiming he attended the woods simply to look for Durnion.

Footage of Durnion taking officers to the grave, near a bridleway, and speaking to two officers outside his flat, was issued by West Midlands Police after he was found guilty.

Video was also released of a subsequent search by police, involving the use of a mobile phone as a torch, which did not uncover the victim’s body hidden in a bedroom.

On the footage filmed in woodland on June 27 last year, Durnion can be seen pointing towards undergrowth, telling police ‘she is under there’ and saying the body is ‘deep enough’.

Durnion initially refused to answer police questions after his arrest on June 24 but took officers to the makeshift grave after being shown footage of a media appeal made by his victim’s relatives.

Detective Inspector Nigel Box said of Reanne’s loved ones: “The family are understandably mortified and heartbroken, and they have been ever since finding out what happened to Reanne.

‘We have supported them as best as we possibly can throughout the investigation, throughout the court process.

‘We’re heartbroken for them. Reanne was a mother, she was an auntie, she was a sister, she was a daughter, and our heart goes out to the family.’

West Midlands Police said a review of the circumstances around the search of the premises was carried out by its Professional Standards Department.

In a statement the force said: ‘No misconduct was identified although some opportunities for learning were identified and implemented.

‘We informed Reanne’s family of the review and expressed our regret we were not able to find her on the May 21. We have liaised with Reanne’s family throughout the investigation into her death.’

Both defendants will be sentenced on Thursday.

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