All from Bournemouth, the men are: Damien Sean Johnson, aged 31, Hayden Johnson, 29 and Dominic Macdonald, 30. They entered guilty pleas at Winchester Crown Court on 8 July to the manslaughter of 56-year-old Michael Bastable.

They also admitted charges or robbery relating to the incident involving Mr Bastable and a second incident on 19 January 2022. Damien and Hayden Johnson both also entered guilty pleas to a third robbery on 21 January 2022.

They will be sentenced on Friday 15 July.

Dorset Police received a report at 3.03pm on Friday 14 January 2022 from a member of the public who came across the unresponsive body of Mr Bastable in an alleyway off Shelbourne Road that runs parallel to the A338 Wessex Way.

Paramedics attended Mr Bastable who was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. He was believed to have suffered a gastro-intestinal bleed and the only sign of external trauma noted was a swollen lip.

The death was not initially treated as suspicious, however, on Sunday 16 January police were notified by the victim’s brother that he had been to Mr Bastable’s address and found his bike was missing. He had also returned to the scene where his brother had been found and located items in the area that he believed belonged to his brother.

It was subsequently discovered that the victim’s bankcard had been used after his death and a full investigation was launched by detectives from Dorset Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT).

They pieced together the movements of the victim prior to his death and those of the defendants. CCTV footage showed Mr Bastable walking in the direction of the alleyway shortly before 3pm, with the three defendants seen in the area moments later.

Further footage also captured the defendants leaving the alleyway, with Hayden Johnson riding a bicycle.

Hayden Johnson took a Scott mountain bike into Cash Generator in Christchurch Road at 3.40pm on the same day and sold it for £100.

At around 9.15pm on 19 January a man answered a knock on the door at his address in Christchurch Road and saw the Johnson brothers, who he knew, and a third unknown man.

The victim was assaulted by the men and they stole £460 in cash.

Two days later another man was assaulted by three men in the basement area of an address in Christchurch Road. He was struck with a baseball bat and the men stole his watch and wallet.

The Johnson brothers were identified from CCTV footage of this incident. Hayden Johnson also sold a watch matching the one stolen during the robbery at Cash Generator the following day.

A forensic post-mortem was carried out on Wednesday 26 January, which indicated Mr Bastable had died from injuries to his stomach area that were consistent with him being repeatedly stamped or jumped on while lying on his back on the ground.

The three defendants were arrested on 26 and 27 January 2022.

Detective Inspector Wayne Seymour, of MCIT, said: “We carried out a comprehensive investigation with a meticulous review of vast amounts of CCTV footage to piece together the movements of these three men in the moments leading up to and following the sad death of Michael Bastable.

“Through this work we were able to prove that these men were involved in a joint enterprise to target Mr Bastable and subjected him to a violent robbery, which had fatal consequences.

“We were also able to compile evidence to prove their involvement in further robberies, which were also of a violent nature and extremely distressing for the victims involved.

“Our thoughts remain with the family of Mr Bastable and I would like to thank them for the support they have offered throughout our investigation and the court process.”