TWO thugs who left Falmouth man Aaron Pill to die in a pool of his own blood after stabbing him have been found guilty of murder.

Kane Coggin, 27, of Meadowbank, Mylor Bridge and Liam Bastow, 24, of Avalon Close, Mylor Bridge were unanimously found guilty of murder by a jury at Truro Crown Court this afternoon.

Neither man was in court but appeared via video link from their prison cells due to a Covid scare. Bastow put his face in his hands as the jury read out the verdict. Coggin showed no emotion.

Judge Simon Carr said he would not sentence the two men while they were not in court and would sentence them on December 16.

The court heard that a desire for revenge after threats were made over a £400 drug debt led to the murder of Aaron Pill.

Falmouth Packet:

Aaron Pill was murdered at his home in Tresawle Road, Falmouth on May 4 this year, a jury has decided

Killers Kane Coggin and Liam Bastow from Mylor Bridge had denied murdering Mr Pill at his home in Tresawle Road on May 4 this year.

But after two days of deliberation the jury in the trial of the pair at Truro Crown Court decided they didn’t believe what they had been told and that both men were found guilty of murder.

Coggin, 27, of Meadowbank, and Bastow, 24, of Avalon Close, had admitted manslaughter but denied murder.

On the afternoon of May 4, Bastow got into an argument with Mr Pill over money he owed him for drugs he had been given to sell.

The court heard that the relationship between the two men had been friendly at first and Bastow had worked for Mr Pill to pay off the debt.

But when the Covid pandemic struck, Bastow refused to go round to Mr Pill’s home over fears of passing the disease onto his new-born daughter.

During a telephone call between the two men and subsequent texts, threats were made between both men with Bastow telling Pill he would ‘Kill for his family’.

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After the conversation Bastow hatched a plan with Coggin, his sister’s boyfriend, to go round to Mr Pill’s house and kill him.

Coggin’s mother drove the pair to Falmouth and dropped the two men off round the corner from Mr Pill’s house.

Armed with two knives, the two men burst into Mr Pill’s home and attacked him. Coggin stabbed Mr Pill in the stomach during the ensuing struggle while Bastow kicked and punched him. All of it was caught on CCTV in Mr Pill’s home.

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The wound nicked an artery and, as Mr Pill lay dying on the floor bleeding to death and screaming for help, the two men left him there lying in a pool of blood without helping him or telling anybody what had happened.

As the pair fled the scene, Coggin stripped down to his shorts and T-Shirt and dumped them in a dog waste bin, along with his trainers, while Bastow called Coggin’s mum in Mylor Bridge to come and pick them up. The knives were dumped in a post box in Old Hill where they were found by a postman the next day.

Once home Bastow was dropped off at his girlfriend’s and Coggin and his mother returned to pick up his clothes from the dog waste bin. Their movements were recorded on CCTV and traced using mobile phone signals. The clothes of either men worn on that night have never been found by police.

Prosecutor Adam Feest had earlier told the jury: "On the fourth of May Aaron Pill was killed in his own home by these defendants. These two defendants acting jointly and in concert set out that night to do exactly what it was in fact they did do, inflict serious violence on Mr Pill."

The judge, His Honour Judge Simon Carr, will sentence both men on December 16.