A 66-year-old man has admitted murdering a mother of seven who disappeared from Dudley 28 years ago, telling police that her remains were left in a cellar before being thrown into wheelie bins.
Trevor Dunkley, of Dudley, pleaded guilty to the murder of Patricia Lashley and to preventing her lawful burial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Ms Lashley, who was 33 at the time, was last seen near her home in Hall Street, Dudley, in September 1998. Her body has never been recovered.
The court heard that Dunkley made admissions during a police interview. His barrister, Balbir Singh, said there was no independent evidence establishing what had happened beyond the defendant’s account.
Asked by Judge Michael Chambers KC whether Ms Lashley’s body had been found, Mr Singh said it had not because it had been placed in the cellar and decomposed.
He said the remains were later disposed of in bins when Dunkley moved home, between nine months and a year after the killing.
Dunkley, wearing round spectacles and a grey jumper, showed no emotion as the pleas were entered. Several members of Ms Lashley’s family were in court.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on 6 November.
West Midlands Police said Ms Lashley had moved to Dudley in the mid-1990s and was known locally as Pat or Jade. She was also known to use the names Vanessa and Tricia, as well as the surname Bradford.
Officers previously said she frequented the No Limits club and other pubs in the area, and that she and Dunkley were known to one another. Police also said she had links to London, Newcastle, Wales and Scotland. ([westmidlands.police.uk](https://www.westmidlands.police.uk/news/west-midlands/news/news/2026/july/man-charged-with-murder-in-connection-with-disappearance-of-patricia-lashley/?utm_source=openai))
Ms Lashley’s family made a fresh appeal for information in 2017, when she would have been 51. She would now be 61 and a grandmother.
