Police today welcomed the sentences handed out to two women and a man after “defenceless” Telford father-of-three Stephen Round was killed in a “prolonged, vicious and violent attack”.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Williamson was speaking outside court after seeing Zena Tinsley, 28, James Haigh, 31, and Melissa Parkes, 22, handed significant custodial sentences yesterday in relation to the death of 43-year-old Mr Round.

At Shrewsbury Crown Court Tinsley, of Boulton Grange, Randlay, Telford, was jailed for life and told she must serve a minimum of 16 years after admitting murder last month.

Haigh, of Church Street, St Georges, Telford, was jailed for a total of 12 years after admitting manslaughter and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Parkes, also of Church Street, St Georges, was jailed for a total of 10 years after admitting manslaughter and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Mr Round was found at a landfill site near Granville Country Park last July 2.

The court heard he was killed in a flat in Church Street, St Georges, five days earlier, and his body was hidden in a cupboard and then a wheelie bin which was collected and taken to the landfill site.

Mr Williamson said: “I am very pleased with the sentences handed out at court and hope that they act as some consolation to Mr Round’s family.

“This was a prolonged, vicious and violent attack, fuelled by drink and drugs, on a victim – Stephen Round – who at the time was vulnerable and defenceless.

“The crime was made even more despicable because all three defendants played a part in deliberately concealing Stephen’s body.

“There is no doubt these actions were carried out purely to prevent the police or anyone else discovering the truth about his death and in the end Stephen’s body was only discovered due to the diligence of the refuse workers at the Sita refuse site.

“The actions of the three individuals were not only an attempt to avoid capture, but they also prevented Stephen’s family from being able to say goodbye to him properly.”