Son killed father and dismembered body parts before ‘neatly packaging’ them and 'using as TV stand'

Neighbour visited the house after noticing ‘pink liquid’ dripping through bathroom ceiling

William Spiller with partner Glenys Molyneaux (PA)

A man killed and dismembered his 25-stone father before "neatly packaging" his body parts in plastic storage boxes and using them as a television stand, a court has heard.

Nathan Robinson, 28, used a Stanley knife, hacksaw and saw to cut up the body of William Spiller, 48, at the flat they shared in Bournemouth, Dorset.

Later that day, a neighbour noticed a "pink liquid" dripping through the ceiling of his bathroom.

The neighbour had previously heard an argument coming from their flat in which Mr Spiller said: "Do you expect me to keep subsidising you for the rest of my life?"

Nigel Lickley QC, prosecuting, told the court Robinson killed his father, a taxi-driver, on 16 May 2013 after they argued about money.

This was diluted blood as Robinson cleaned up the crime scene with a steam cleaner which he went out to buy after killing his father.

He said the body parts had been "packaged neatly" in the boxes.

Mr Lickley said: "Mr Spiller was a large man - 6ft 5in, he weighed in excess of 25 stone in weight - hence I say when his body was cut up and dismembered, it would have taken time and effort. Armed with a Stanley knife, small hacksaw and a saw, it would have been a messy business."

When the neighbour went to ask about the pink liquid, Robinson answered the door and was described as "very calm, just normal, very collected, there was nothing to say he had just had a fight with his dad".

The prosecutor said Robinson attempted to cover up the killing over the next few weeks and created a "things to do" list including paying the rent on the property and using his father’s mobile phone to pretend he was still alive.

Mr Lickley said this meant that Mr Spiller’s body was not found until a month later, after his father's partner, Glenys Molyneaux, reported him missing when he stopped replying to text messages.

She had believed he was visiting a seriously-ill friend in the West Midlands who has since died.

Mr Lickley told the jury police, who found the body of Mr Spiller in the bedroom area of the flat, “noted strong smells and flies, alive and dead, in the hallway leading up to the property” as they arrived.

He said Mr Spiller's head had been “removed, cut off”, and was discovered in another box within a filing cabinet in the bedroom.

He added: "In one of the boxes was a Stanley knife with a relatively small but sharp blade, a saw and a small hacksaw - the tools, the Crown say, which were used to kill and cut up the body of Mr Spiller."

Mr Lickley said Robinson took at least £7,750 in cash belonging to his father and the day after the killing went to visit friends in Glasgow where he spent up to £300 "drinking, eating and socialising", all the time sending text messages purporting to come from Mr Spiller.

Mr Lickley said it was believed that Robinson may have stayed in the flat after returning from Scotland.

He then used more money stolen from his father to pay for a weekend with his mother, who was separated from Mr Spiller, to stay at a hotel in Bristol for a vegan weekend.

Police said Robinson asked them: “is this a joke?” when he was arrested at his mother’s house in Birmingham.

Mr Lickley said Robinson had been in debt to his father and a note written two years earlier was found showing a loan of £36,000.

Mr Lickley said Robinson admitted killing his father and dismembering his body but denied his murder. He admits manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues today.

Additional reporting by PA