Daniel Watkis Found Guilty of Murder After Junior Coleman’s Body Found Concealed in Lewisham Building

A man has been convicted of murder after the body of 43-year-old Junior Coleman was found concealed inside a disused social club in south-east London. Daniel Watkis was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court.

Watkis, 30, was convicted of murdering Mr Coleman after the prosecution proved he fatally assaulted him at the former Brockley Social Club on Brockley Road, Lewisham, on the evening of 9 July before hiding his body beneath a tarpaulin and other items inside the abandoned building where both men had been sleeping rough. He is due to be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on 9 October.

The court heard that CCTV footage captured both men walking together towards the former social club earlier that day. Mr Coleman was wearing the same clothing in which his body was later discovered. Shortly before 11pm, Watkis returned to the building while Mr Coleman was already inside.

Forensic evidence established that Mr Coleman was attacked in one area of the room before his body was moved and concealed in a rear bar area. A post-mortem examination concluded that he died from blunt force trauma to the head and face, with injuries consistent with repeated heavy blows from a blunt object.

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CCTV later showed Watkis leaving the building at about 11.40pm and walking along Brockley Road, glancing back towards the former social club as he left.

The prosecution case was supported by extensive forensic, CCTV, telecommunications and circumstantial evidence gathered during the murder investigation. In the hours after the killing, Watkis stopped using his usual mobile telephone number. Weeks later, he reported his bank card as stolen, despite it later being recovered beside Mr Coleman’s body. Evidence also showed he discouraged others from reporting Mr Coleman missing.

As concern for Mr Coleman’s welfare increased, his family reported him missing. On 19 September, Metropolitan Police officers searching the derelict social club as part of the missing person investigation discovered his body concealed beneath a tarpaulin and other items.

Investigators recovered several personal items belonging to Watkis close to the body, including his bank card, Freedom Pass and provisional driving licence. Police established that the bank card and Freedom Pass had last been used on 9 July, the day of the killing. A water bottle recovered nearby was also forensically linked to Watkis.

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Watkis was arrested on suspicion of murder at his Hackney home on 24 September. During police interviews he answered “no comment” to most questions, denied murdering Mr Coleman and, at times, denied knowing him despite evidence showing the pair had spent time together and both had been staying at the former social club. He was charged with murder two days later.

Following the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Suzanne Soren, who led the investigation, said: “This was a complex investigation that relied on the determination and professionalism of detectives and forensic specialists who painstakingly pieced together hundreds of individual lines of enquiry over many months. They reviewed extensive CCTV, analysed digital and telecommunications evidence, traced Watkis’ movements and secured crucial forensic opportunities, building a case that ensured Mr Coleman’s family finally received the answers they deserved.”

She added: “Today’s verdict means Daniel Watkis has been held accountable for taking Mr Coleman’s life. It also sends a clear message that those responsible for the most serious crimes cannot rely on time, concealment or deception to escape justice. No matter how complex an investigation may be, we will continue to pursue every available line of enquiry to ensure those responsible are brought before the courts.”

Watkis will be sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on 9 October.

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