James Desborough Gets Whole Life Term for Murdering 2 Homeless Men

Q: How did a suspected double murderer manage to strangle his cellmate over snoring while awaiting trial in prison?

He was able to do it because he was sharing a cell with a vulnerable, older prisoner at HMP Exeter and strangled him during the night before staff realised what had happened. Court evidence showed James Desborough was on remand awaiting trial over the Cornwall killings when he was placed in a cell with 65-year-old Steven Kempster. Prosecutors said Desborough had complained to other inmates about Kempster’s snoring and unwashed cutlery, and had even said the night before that if Kempster snored again he would kill him. Judge James Patrick later said the evidence supported the inference that Desborough strangled Kempster as he slept. The attack happened on 15 September 2025, only three days after the men began sharing a cell. Desborough did not immediately raise the alarm. Prison officers were alerted at about 5.25am and found Kempster on the floor. A Home Office pathologist concluded he died from compression of the neck by strangulation. Prosecutors said Desborough’s DNA on Kempster’s clothing indicated he had moved the body from the bunk to the floor after a 5am welfare check. Desborough then tried to explain the death away, telling police he thought Kempster had fallen from bed and had been making “gurgling” sounds. A jury rejected that account and convicted him of murder at Exeter Crown Court in March 2026. He later received a life sentence for that killing, before being given a whole-life order for the murders of Claudio Aquilino and Daniel Coleman.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 30

A Winchester Crown Court jury convicted James Desborough of murdering Daniel Coleman and Claudio Aquilino after about 3 hours and 15 minutes of deliberations, and he was sentenced to life without parole.
Police said Desborough targeted two vulnerable men linked to a Newquay homeless shelter, dismembered and tried to burn their bodies on his Cornwall woodland, then used their money and lied about their whereabouts.
The four-month search of Paramoor Woods involved 724 officers and 96,000 hours, uncovering 1,900 bone fragments from Aquilino in a stream and Coleman's body in a shallow grave.
Desborough denied murder and claimed both deaths were separate "unfortunate circumstances," but jurors rejected his account; he had already admitted preventing the lawful burial of both men.
The case has widened beyond the double murder, with police reviewing four unexplained deaths at the shelter that housed him and scrutiny sharpened by his later conviction for killing a prison cellmate.