Man admits murder over Drift Reservoir body find

A man has been jailed for murder after a body was found in a reservoir.

The body of Edward Hinds, 37, was found with a stab wound at Drift Reservoir, near Penzance, Cornwall, in February.

Nigel Honey, 50, from Lelant, pleaded guilty at Truro Crown Court. He claimed Mr Hinds told him to kill him.

Sentencing Honey to life in prison with a minimum term of 18-and-a-half years, Judge Simon Carr said Mr Hinds had been "extremely vulnerable" and the death was "in no way a mercy killing".

The court heard the pair, who had met in the Midlands in 2020 and later came to Cornwall, had been living in a flat in Lelant for a few weeks before Mr Hinds body was found.

He was last seen alive on 16 February.

Mr Hind's body had been tied to a concrete block and dumped in the reservoir, but it later broke free and was found by walkers on 18 February.

Honey claimed Hinds told him to kill him because of drug use and debts to drug dealers and he was unable to kill himself because of his religious beliefs.

The court heard Mr Hinds, who came from the Midlands, made strange comments about conspiracy theories and claimed he was a member of the "Italian Mafia".

Judge Simon Carr said Mr Hinds was "extremely vulnerable" and "seriously unwell" because of bouts of severe depression and paranoia.

He said that although it may have been Mr Hinds wish to die, it was "you and you alone who pushed the knife in" and it was "in no way a mercy killing".

Mitigating, barrister Simon Hunka said Honey had thought of asking Mr Hinds to get help and was "tortured by what he has done".

Mr Hind's family said in a statement there was a "void in our family forever".

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