Five guilty of killing in lay-by ‘show no remorse’

A COUPLE have been found guilty of the brutal murder of a man in a Rotherham lay-by, while three juvenile co-defendants have been convicted of manslaughter.

Jurors found Leonie Mason, 23, and Shiraz Bashir, 41, guilty of murdering Craig Preston in a layby off Town Lane, Rotherham on August 22 last year, at the end of a 13-week trial.

Mason was Mr Preston’s onand-off again girlfriend, while Bashir was her jealous new boyfriend.

On trial also were two 15-yearold boys and a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons. A jury found them not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter.

The teenagers have been remanded into local authority care.

Mr Preston’s body was found on the morning of Monday, August 22 last year by dog walkers on the moors off the A628 at Woodhead Tunnels in Derbyshire.

He had been severely beaten and had suffered multiple head injuries. The court heard one of the group took a picture of Mr Preston as he lay unconscious, doubled up and bleeding heavily.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Handley said none of the accused had shown any remorse: “Bashir, Mason and the teenage boys planned together to harm Mr Preston, which we were able to demonstrate through a combination of CCTV enquiries, forensics and telecoms work.

“We completed extensive telephone forensics work on the mobiles of all defendants and rather horrifyingly, were able to retrieve an image of Mr Preston’s beaten body in the boot of a car on Bashir’s phone as well as many texts between all defendants planning their attack.

“The three juvenile defendants, one of whom was just 14 at the time of Mr Preston’s murder, have shown no remorse for their actions, just as Bashir and Mason have denied their guilt throughout.”

Mason and Bashir will be sentenced at a later date.