Three men involved in dumping the body of a man in a canal and emptying his bank account have been jailed.
The body of Sebastiano Magnanini was found tied to a submerged shopping trolley in Regent’s canal in north London last year.
The 46-year-old, originally from Venice, had travelled to London in August in the hope of pursuing a career in journalism. He had previously been jailed in his 20s for stealing a £1m painting, worked as a tour guide in Cambodia, a carpenter in south London and a roadie for Prince.
Michael Walsh, 41, and Paul Williams, 64, appeared at Blackfriars crown court for sentencing on Tuesday after pleading guilty to preventing the lawful burial of a body.
Walsh and Daniel Hastie, 22, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, having taken more than £1,900 from Magnanini’s bank account.
Hastie also faced charges of possessing offensive weapons after he used a wooden pole and metal chain to threaten another person.
The court heard that Walsh had met Magnanini on 22 September when the Italian was trying to buy heroin in the King’s Cross area of London.
Walsh took Magnanini to his flat, where they used heroin and crack cocaine, and claimed Magnanini later gave him his bank card to get cash out to buy more drugs.
On discovering there was £1,900 in the account, Walsh proceeded to empty it over the next 18 hours after enlisting the help of Hastie.
Hastie tried to use the card to make purchases and withdrew £1,690 in cash from the bank by forging Magnanini’s signature.
The court heard that Hastie returned to the flat where, he said, Magnanini was sleeping, and then headed back out.
By lunchtime of 23 September the account had been emptied and Walsh returned to his flat where he discovered Magnanini had died of an apparent overdose.
He said he “panicked” and again left the flat, where he bumped into Williams who later helped him dispose of the body.
Prosecuting, Emlyn Jones told the court that Magnanini’s hands and feet had been tied together in the foetal position to the trolley which was then weighted down with dumbbells.
Jones said a sheet was also used to try to conceal the body in the water when it was dumped at around 5.15am on 24 September.
A statement from the victim’s brother, which was read out in court, said it was a cruel and callous way to get rid of his body, adding that the last few months had been a nightmare.
“It is horrible to know that someone went to great lengths to conceal his body in the hope it would not be discovered,” the statement said.
Leon Kazakos, defending Walsh, said that at the time the decision was taken to move the body, his client was heavily intoxicated with heroin, alcohol and cocaine.
The barrister added: “It is a regret he will carry with him for the rest of his life.”
Defending Williams, Tom Copeland said: “He has said he is ashamed of his actions that morning, that he did not ask more questions or do anything else.”
Williams also struggled with drug use and was intoxicated when he agreed to help Walsh, Copeland said. The court heard that Williams has bone marrow cancer and a heart condition.
James Elvidge, defending Hastie, told the court the 22-year-old, who has autism, knew the dead man because he was “friendly” and “generous”.
He said his client helped the homeless people around Euston and King’s Cross, but was motivated by greed and the promise of new trainers and a tracksuit.
“If he had known it was his [Magnanini’s] card and what happened he would never have included himself in the fraud,” said Elvidge.
Sentencing the trio, Judge John Hillen called the act of preventing the lawful burial of a body a serious and distasteful offence that had caused great distress to Magnanini’s family.
He sentenced Walsh to four years in jail, Williams to two years and Hastie to 12 months.
