P&O Ferries chef 'died in kinky sex game after being wrapped in cling film'

A head chef for P&O Ferries died during a kinky sex game after being wrapped in black plastic sheeting and cling film, a court has heard.

Alun Williams, 47, was unable to regulate his body temperature after being mummified and suffered dehydration which eventually led to a heart attack, a jury at Canterbury Crown Court was told.

The chef, who lived with his girlfriend, had an interest in bondage and mummification and would meet men online for sex, the trial heard. Words: PA

Richard Bowler (pictured above), 35, and David Connor (pictured below), 23, from Canterbury, are charged with Mr Williams' manslaughter.

They also face an alternative charge of manslaughter by gross negligence which they both deny.

Bowler, who has cerebral palsy which affects his co-ordination and movement, wept loudly as prosecutor Ian Hope opened the case and had to be asked by Judge Adele Williams to keep the noise down.

He said Bowler and Connor lived together in a flat in Dover, Kent, with Connor acting as Bowler's "informal carer".

Shortly after 6am on August 20 last year, Connor walked into the taxi rank where his mother worked and said "Mum, Richard's killed someone", the court was told.

He mentioned bondage and a chemical which relaxes muscles in the bottom and told his mother the man was dead.

Bowler, after making a phone call to his brother and texting his sister-in-law for help, phoned the police at 5.53am and told them he had been involved in a "kinky sex session" with a friend who was wrapped up and had stopped breathing, the court heard.

He was put through to the ambulance service and told them Mr Williams had taken the drug ketamine.

Mr Hope said Bowler cut open the cling film and plastic sheeting to perform CPR and told the emergency services: "I thought he was just sleeping.

"I am sorry, I should have called before.

"He takes ketamine and that mongs him out."

The court heard that Mr Williams was found wrapped tightly from head to toe in the plastic sheeting and clingfilm, with a space left around his nose and mouth so he could breathe.

A hood had been placed over his head, allegedly at Mr Williams' request, and sexual acts involving the three men took place, the court was told.

Connor told the police that he had left the flat at midnight after Bowler told him he had a man coming round for a kinky sex session, the jury heard.

He said he returned at 1am and that Bowler told him that Mr Williams had wanted to be wrapped in clingfilm, the court was told.

Mr Hope said police found drugs including ketamine, cocaine, methamphetamine and amyl nitrate, otherwise known as poppers, in Mr Williams' rucksack.

They also found a gas mask and ties in his bag, the court heard.

Sex toys, masking tape, duct tape, black plastic sheeting and cling film were also found in the flat, the jury heard.

A laptop found in Mr Williams' car showed he had an interest in bondage and mummification, the court heard.

A post-mortem examination on Mr Williams' body confirmed that he had died suddenly following body wrapping while under the influence of ketamine and methamphetamine.

Mr Hope told the court there were many risks to leaving Mr Williams in a room on his own while wrapped up in plastic sheeting and cling film after he had taken drugs.

He said: "At the very least they were bound to constantly monitor him which they failed to do and which resulted in his death, unnoticed by both of them for quite some time."

The jury was also played the 999 call made to the police by Bowler shortly before 6am.

He is heard telling the call handler: "It's a bit embarrassing.

"It's my friend, he's called Alun. I have known him for five years.

"I'm gay, he's gay. We had a bit of a kinky sex game and he's stopped breathing."

Connor can be heard in the background as Bowler makes the call.

Bowler tells the operator: "He's on my bed, he's wrapped up in a PVC sheet with tape and that.

"He's got cling film wrapped around his body and I have got a text message on my phone stating that's what he likes."

The trial then heard Bowler's call after he was transferred to an ambulance service operator who told him how to carry out CPR.

Text messages between Bowler and Mr Williams sent between the months of June and August last year arranging meetings for sex were also shown to the jury.

Mr Williams texted Bowler on the afternoon of August 19 to discuss meeting for sex later on that night where "wrapping" was mentioned, the court heard.

His final text message to Bowler's phone was sent at 11.23pm telling him he was outside of his flat, the trial was told.

Paramedic Mark MacDougall, who was one of the first people on the scene, said Bowler told him he had last seen Mr Williams alive three hours previously, the jury heard.

Pc Kevin Sturgess arrived at the flat at 6.10am and spoke to Connor who told him that Bowler had regularly indulged in kinky sex and that Mr Williams had been to the flat before, the court was told.

He said Mr Williams had arrived, said hello and shook his hand before going to see Bowler, the jury heard.

Mr Hope said that Connor told Mr Sturgess he had gone out at midnight and returned to the property at 1am, where he found Bowler crying and shaking.

Bowler had told Connor that Mr Williams wanted to be wrapped up in cling film and was not breathing, the jury heard.

Mr Sturgess then arrested Connor who told him: "I haven't done anything. I told you what happened."

The trial continues.

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