Joanna Dennehy: Gary Stretch and Leslie Layton found guilty of offences relating to her murders

Prosecutors said Dennehy "cast a spell" over her alleged accomplices

Undated handout photos of (left to right) Gary 'Stretch' Richards, 47, and Leslie Layton, 36, who aided serial killer Joanna Dennehy and have been convicted of further offences relating to her killing spree. (Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire)

Two men who aided serial killer Joanna Dennehy have been convicted of further offences relating to her killing spree.

Gary Stretch has been found guilty of the attempted murder of a dog walker Robin Bereza and Leslie Layton has been found guilty of preventing the lawful burial of two murder victims, a Cambridge Crown Court spokesman said.

The pair have already been found guilty of other offences relating to Dennehy's attacks in March last year.

Psychopath Dennehy, of Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, previously admitted the murders of Lukasz Slaboszewski, 31, Kevin Lee, 48, and John Chapman, 56, in and around Peterborough over a 10-day period.

She also admitted the attempted murder of two dog walkers, John Rogers and Mr Bereza, as well as preventing the lawful and decent burial of her murder victims.

On Monday jurors at Cambridge Crown Court found Stretch guilty of three counts of preventing the lawful burial of a body and another count of attempted murder on Mr Rogers in Hereford on April 2.

Layton was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

The jury returned a majority verdict on the three remaining charges, a court official said.

During the trial, prosecutors said Dennehy “cast a spell” over her alleged accomplices and some of her victims as she killed “for fun”.

Dennehy was likened to “Uma Thurman from Kill Bill and the woman from the Terminator” by married father-of-two Mr Lee shortly before his death.

Another victim, Mr Chapman, had dubbed her the “man woman” because of her intimidating nature.

At the height of a nationwide man-hunt, she bragged to one witness that she had killed eight people - although no further murders have been detected.

All of the murder victims died from multiple stab injuries, including wounds to the heart.

After his death at a house in Rolleston Garth, Peterborough, on or around March 19, the body of Mr Slaboszewski was stored in a wheelie bin.

At one point a smirking Dennehy showed the body to a teenage girl, prosecutor Peter Wright QC told the court.

Along with Mr Chapman, who was killed in the block of bedsits he shared with Dennehy in Bifield on March 29, his body was later dumped in a ditch near the isolated Thorney Dyke.

Mr Lee was also killed on March 29 in the same house as Mr Slaboszewski.

His body was found positioned in a sexual pose in a separate ditch near Newborough, in what Mr Wright described as a “final act of humiliation”.

After the Peterborough killings, Dennehy had bragged that she and Stretch were “like Bonnie and Clyde” as they drove 140 miles across the country to search out further victims.

The court heard that she drove to Hereford with Stretch in a Vauxhall Astra registered in the false company name Undertaker and Sons.

Once there the diagnosed psychopath randomly selected and repeatedly stabbed two dog walkers - Mr Bereza and Mr Rogers - in the street. Both survived despite suffering critical injuries.

Describing the involvement of the two defendants, Mr Wright said both had been “willing and able” participants in the plot.

Neither man gave evidence in the trial, but both claimed they had been acting under duress.

A third man, Robert Moore, 55, of Belvoir Way, Peterborough, is awaiting sentence after admitting assisting an offender.

All four will be sentenced later.

Joanna Dennehy pleaded guilty to the murders in November

After the hearing, Chris McCann of the CPS in the East of England, said: “Today's guilty verdicts prove that the two defendants were willing assistants in these murders and that they were not acting under duress, as they tried to claim.

"Both men willingly assisted Joanna Dennehy in disposing of the bodies of her three victims and in covering up the crimes she had committed.

“Stretch, Layton and Moore were in the thrall of triple-murderer Joanna Dennehy. They revelled in bringing suffering and misery upon their victims and showed no remorse for their atrocious acts.

"The fact that Leslie Layton photographed one of the deceased victims is testament to the warped nature of these crimes and those that committed them.

“I would like to thank Mr Bereza and Mr Rogers for giving evidence in this trial and reliving what must have been a terrible experience for them.

“I hope the two victims and the families of Lukasz Slaboszewski, John Chapman and Kevin Lee can take some comfort from the fact that the perpetrators of these crimes have been brought to justice and will be punished for what they have done.”

Detective Chief Inspector Martin Brunning, who led the investigation, said: “This has been one of the largest and most complex investigations in my 20 years' experience.

“Three men were brutally murdered in Peterborough and two men were stabbed in West Mercia. Today their killer and her willing accomplices have now been brought to justice.

“Joanna Dennehy is a sadistic 'serial killer' with a fearsome personality. She manipulated these men into doing things she wanted. I am relieved she is facing a substantial period of time behind bars.

“Her accomplices not only fuelled her violence but also assisted her in these cruel crimes, by helping her dump their bodies.

“Stretch drove her around and helped her pick her next victims - without a thought of the impact on them or their loved ones.

“Moore sheltered Dennehy and Stretch while they were on the run and lied to police about their whereabouts while Layton was prepared to help Stretch and Dennehy with their criminal activities, helped dump the bodies and did everything in his power to assist them to avoid being caught.

“The actions of Dennehy and those who helped her have had a devastating impact on the families of those killed and the surviving victims.

Press Association