A man has been found guilty of manslaughter in connection with the death of a woman whose body was discovered in a wooded area after nearby residents reported hearing screams and alerted the authorities.
Mohammed Durnion, who choked Reanne Coulson, a mother of two, and concealed her remains in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Coventry, was acquitted of murder by Warwick Crown Court today.
Reanne was murdered at Durnion’s residence in Coventry on May 21 last year before he placed her body in a suitcase and disposed of it four miles away in Binley Woods. Her body was not located until June 27, more than three weeks after her demise.
After more than 10 hours of deliberation over four days, the jury at Warwick Crown Court cleared Mohammed Durnion of murder but convicted him of manslaughter by an 11-1 majority decision.
Additionally, Durnion’s accomplice and friend Adam Moore, 39, was found guilty by an 11-1 majority decision of aiding an offender by assisting in the disposal of Reanne Coulson’s body a day after her murder. Durnion maintained a composed demeanor while awaiting the verdict in court.
The jury swiftly reached a decision eight minutes after Judge Kristina Montgomery KC provided a majority instruction to the seven women and five men on the panel.
According to court testimony, a neighbor had reported hearing Reanne screaming and calling for help weeks before her body was discovered. Despite a search of Durnion’s apartment by the police, Reanne’s body was not found initially, with Durnion later asserting that he had hidden it beneath a mattress.
During the trial, 42-year-old Durnion claimed that Reanne had died from a suspected overdose following an altercation at his residence on Paynes Lane. He admitted to moving her body to the woodland due to fear of being implicated in her death.
Prosecutors alleged that Durnion carried out a sudden and intentional assault on Reanne, resulting in her death, before feigning a mental health crisis upon the arrival of law enforcement. Police footage captured him indicating the location where he had buried the victim, stating, “under there.”
In the video, Durnion is questioned about the depth of the burial, to which he responded, “Deep enough,” revealing that he had used a shovel to dig the grave.
Durnion’s sentencing has been postponed to a later date.
