LIFE: The 28-Year Confession
📅 9 November 2026
On Friday 6 November 2026, at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Trevor Dunkley, 66, of Dudley, was jailed for LIFE for the murder of his partner, Patricia Lashley, a mother of seven, in September 1998.
On 7 July 2026, officers from West Midlands Police's missing persons unit came to question him about Patricia's disappearance. An officer pointed out the impact on her family. Dunkley became emotional — and confessed to a murder he had kept secret for 28 years. He had hidden her body in the cellar of their Hall Street flat, and, about a year later, disposed of her remains in household bins. Her remains have never been found.
He took her nine-month-old baby to social services and said she had abandoned him. The boy was adopted. All seven children grew up believing their mother had left them. The judge called that deception a grossly aggravating factor. He pleaded guilty on 11 September 2026. The minimum term is 130 months — 10 years and 10 months.
Watch the full film above — the complete story, with the confession, the 28-year lie, and the sentencing. A confession 28 years too late — justice, or just an ending? Tell us in the comments.
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