Steven Wales, 61, has been jailed for two years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting he hid the body of an arson attack suspect inside a wheelie bin.
The body of Paul Smith, 40, known as Smigger, was found in the bin in Everton, Liverpool, on July 22 last year, seven days after he is 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.
Court hears of 'panicked' response
The court heard Wales had found Mr Smith's body in his bath and moved it into the bin, which he hid behind nearby derelict houses. 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.
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."
Family's grief and disbelief
Chris Hopkins, prosecuting, said Mr 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 9am on July 22 2025, Wales called 999 and reported that a man had died of a drug overdose in his bath two days earlier.
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 conceal it. Wales, who the court heard had 32 previous convictions for 64 offences, including manslaughter, was initially arrested on suspicion of murder.
In a statement read to the court, Mr 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."
Arson attack convictions
Joanne Maxwell, defending, read a letter Wales 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." As Wales was led from the dock, Mr Smith's brother, who was in court along with one of Mr Smith's daughters, said: "You little scumbag."
An inquest earlier this year recorded Mr 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 that 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 Mr Greener and Ms Jackson. A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard Mr Smith had travelled with Owens to the home in South John Street just after 12.30am on July 15 when he set fire to the home.
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.
