Yahoo News Man cleared of murdering former teacher after body was found in Northumberland
A 65-year-old man has been cleared of the murder of a former teacher after a body was found next to a roadside wall in Northumberland. Paul Black was on trial at Edinburgh High Court accused of the murder of Peter Coshan, 75, at his flat in Leith, Scotland, on either August 11 or 12, 2022.
On Friday, the jury returned a not proven verdict on the murder charge, however, Black was found guilty of perverting the course of justice, after admitting this during the course of the trial, by hiding the body and lying to police when they twice visited his flat during their investigation into the missing person. Paul McNaughton, 29, pleaded guilty last year to murdering Mr Coshan and perverting the course of justice.
Following the murder, the pair hid Mr Coshan’s body under a bed, and they kept it hidden for days while they went on a spending spree with Mr Coshan’s bank cards.
On around August 15, they put the pensioner’s body in a stolen suitcase and drove it to a layby on the A696 between Otterburn and Belsay in Northumberland, where they tried to dig a grave before dumping the body next to a wall.
Mr Coshan, a former biology teacher, had been lured to Black’s Seafield Road address by his flatmate, Paul McNaughton, as part of a catfishing plot to steal tens of thousands of pounds, who pleaded guilty to his murder last year.
Judge Lord Scott told Black: “You have been found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice which, as (defence advocate) Mr Lenehan rightly says, is an extremely serious matter.”
The jury retired to begin its deliberations on Friday and returned its verdict in the afternoon. Lord Scott said that Black and McNaughton will both be sentenced on June 17.
