Man who hid arson attack suspect's body in bin jailed

A man who admitted hiding a man's body in a wheelie bin has been jailed.

The body of Paul Smith, 40, known as Smigger, was found in the bin in Everton, Liverpool, on 22 July last year, seven days after he was believed to have started a fire at the home of Sheila Jackson, 83, and her partner Eric Greener, 77, in St Helens, Merseyside.

The couple were rescued from the blaze but died in hospital from burns and smoke inhalation.

Steven Wales, 61, was jailed for two years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court after the court heard he had found Smith's body in his bath and moved it into the bin, which he hid behind nearby derelict houses.

Sentencing him, Judge Neil Flewitt, said: "Although the cause of his death has been established as mixed drug toxicity, the precise circumstances of his death are uncertain.

"The information available to me is entirely dependent on your account which, I have to say, raises as many questions as it answers, not least how a 61-year-old man with COPD was able to move that body from the bath and flat into a wheelie bin."

Chris Hopkins, prosecuting, said Smith was a "working, family man" and father of five, but developed a Class A drug dependency in late 2024 and had been living a "chaotic lifestyle".

Shortly after 09:00 BST on 22 July last year, Wales called 999 and reported a man had died of a drug overdose in his bath two days earlier, the court heard.

Wales, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to preventing a lawful and decent burial, said he had "panicked" because he was on licence and did not want to go back to prison.

When police arrived at his home in Coniston Street he led them to the bin, which had been placed in an overgrown garden nearby with discarded items, plants and a piece of furniture used to concealed it.

Wales, who the court heard had 32 previous convictions for 64 offences, including manslaughter, was initially arrested on suspicion of murder.

He told officers Smith had come to his home that weekend, they had taken drugs together and he had asked to take a bath and wash his clothes.

Wales said he left the house and returned to find Smith dead in the bath, with a needle close by.

In a statement read to the court, Smith's family said: "Paul was a son, a brother, a father, a partner. He was and always will be a deeply valued human. His life mattered."

Addressing Wales, the family said: "We do not believe you have told the whole truth about what happened to Paul."

Describing him as "selfish" and a "coward", they added: "You continue to deprive us of our chance to know what truly happened."

Joanne Maxwell, mitigating for Wales, read a letter he had written to the court in which he expressed his remorse.

He said: "The family of my victim are never far from my thoughts. I am so sorry."

An inquest earlier this year recorded Smith's death as "drug-related" after it heard he had taken heroin close to the time of his death, as well as a "relatively large amount of cocaine" and a number of sedatives.

In a report, Home Office pathologist Dr Matthew Lyall said drowning could not be proved or excluded, adding: "Neither can it be entirely excluded the deceased was held under water by a third party, but pathological findings cannot prove that occurred."

Earlier this year, Kevin Weetman, 34, Kylie Maynard, 37, and Lee Owens, 46, were jailed for the manslaughter of Greener and Jackson.

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard Smith had travelled with Owens to the home in South John Street just after 00:30 on 15 July.

Weetman was jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years for planning the attack after Mrs Jackson's son George, 48, refused to sell drugs for him.

Maynard, said to be the "trusted lieutenant" in Weetman's drugs line, was jailed for 23 years and Owens was sentenced to 13 years and six months.

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