Man who murdered former Hinckley United player jailed for 22 years
A MAN who rolled up his friend’s body in a piece of carpet and hid it in a cupboard under the stairs at his house has been jailed for 22 years.
Carpet fitter John Robert Allison, of Bulkington Road, Bedworth, stabbed former Hinckley United footballer Daniel Pitham five times with a hunting knife before concealing his body in May last year.
Allison, 36, had denied murdering the 33-year-old but a jury found him guilty after a six-week trial which culminated on February 17.
Allison was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court to 22 years in prison. He must serve at least that before being able to be considered for parole.
Also appearing for sentence was Scott Warner, 36, of Missing Oak Close, Bedworth, who received a three-year prison sentence after previously pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.
After the murder, Allison and Warner hid Daniel’s body then contacted friends and acquaintances about borrowing a van or car. During the trial, the prosecution alleged that their plan was to dispose of the body in a disused quarry.
Both men had then created a web of lies and confusion over Daniel’s whereabouts.
Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said: “It was over two days before police finally broke into the house at the request of Daniel Pitham’s increasingly worried father and found the scene that we saw at trial.”
Allison’s wife, Toni, 34, of Springfield Crescent, Bedworth, was jailed for 12 months after previously being found guilty of perverting the course of justice.
Allison had exchanged text messages with his wife who disposed of her phone, police said, and advised him to do the same.
Her barrister Anthony Bell told the court she was planning to divorce her husband.
In an emotional reading of her impact statement to the court, Daniel’s mother Debbie said: “Daniel’s death has come as a huge shock to us as his family and his circle of friends.
“When we first heard the news we just couldn’t believe it, it sounded so out there. We thought it couldn’t be true.
“How could somebody do that to our son? When it was definitely confirmed that our son had died it was like being hit by a train.”
Debbie, who frequently had to pause to try and regain composure, continued: “My stomach knotted up, I felt sick. I felt a sense of complete and utter loss.”
Debbie told the court of the devastating toll on the family, including Daniel’s two younger siblings. She said: “As days go by and it becomes more real we find ourselves unable to sleep, crying all the time, not wanting to do anything. We are just listless.”
Debbie also described her sense of guilt at not being able to protect her son. She said: “We constantly ask ourselves why couldn’t we protect our son. We feel guilty every day and it makes our lives feel worthless.
“We feel a failure at not being there for him. He must have been so scared.”
Reaching the end of her statement, Debbie said: “We both feel that our lives have been ripped apart.
“We will never have our son again to see him smile and hear him laugh, he will never fulfil his hopes and dreams. Our big lad has gone.”
The court heard how Daniel had been working towards leading an independent life at the time of his death after suffering catastrophic injuries losing much of his left arm - in a road traffic accident the previous year.
Debbie told the court: “Danny had already been through so much with life-changing injuries from his accident the previous year. He had only just agreed to see a counsellor with a view to working towards having an arm transplant, an appointment he didn’t get to make.
“He was also due to move into his own flat and start living independently again.”
It was this flat that Daniel’s father was decorating as Allison and Warner tried to work out how to dispose of his body.
Judge de Bertodano said: “It’s a tragic irony that at the very time you two were working out ways to hide his body his father, unaware of the terrible tragedy that had unfolded behind your locked door, was decorating the flat that Daniel Pitham was to live in as his family helped him regain his independence and his life.”
John Allison had tried to mitigate his crime with the argument that it was not a ‘premeditated act.’
But while accepting this Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said the blows he inflicted on Daniel would only ever have resulted in his death.
The judge said of Allison: “As far as mitigating factors are concerned I accept there was no real premeditation and this arose from a spontaneous incident. I do not accept however that you have intended to do serious bodily harm rather than to kill.
“You stabbed Daniel Pitham five times using at least moderate force for the three significant blows.”
She added: “It’s clear he died because you, John Allison, lost your temper when you thought he was disrespecting you and he refused to leave your house and you picked up what you describe as a ten-inch hunting knife and stabbed him five times.”
William Harbage, representing Warner, said: “He’s been dealt with for an offence he admitted at the first opportunity. He’s genuinely remorseful at what’s happened to his friend and he’s ashamed.”
Toni Allison’s barrister, Anthony Bell, told the court that she is planning to divorce her husband.
Mr Bell said: “Her relationship with John Allison has been the focus of her life since it began, through all the ups and downs. Notwithstanding being a victim of what we ordinarily call domestic abuse.”
Judge de Bertodano praised the courage of Daniel’s mother in speaking to the court.
She said: “The court this morning heard Daniel Pitham’s mother’s heartbreaking statement that she had considerable courage to read before the court. No one who heard her can fail to be deeply moved by her account of her family’s tragedy.”
Speaking about Daniel’s life, Judge de Bertodano added: “He was a keen and talented sportsman, he played football professionally at a high level. He was social and he lived life to the full. Everything changed for him when he was involved in a road traffic accident.
“He lost much of his left arm, he suffered head trauma and damage to an eye and when he came out of hospital towards the end of May 2018 he was a changed person.”
She continued: “At the time of his death Daniel Pitham had seemed to be turning a corner.
“He agreed to start by moving into a new flat and things were beginning to look positive after a truly awful year. That was not to be, and his close and loving family has been torn apart.”