'Murderous' couple killed, decapitated and chopped up a drug-user with a 'Wilko's saw' then dumped the body parts around Bournemouth - before one of them boasted he'd 'do it again' and 'eat the f***er', court told

A murderous couple killed, decapitated and dismembered a drug user before one of them 'chillingly' boasted of eating him, a court heard today.

Simon Shotton was discovered after a 'large package' landed in front of a member of the public, who reported it to the police when she recognised the shape of a foot inside.

The 48 year old's limbs were sawn off with his legs dumped in a plastic bag where in a 'grisly' find they were discovered by by a passer by - sparking a murder hunt which saw the couple arrested, the court head. 

Mr Shotton was living with Debbie Pereira, 39, and Benjamin Atkins, 49, in exchange for drugs in the two weeks before his death, jurors were told.

After officers detained them, jurors were told they were covertly recorded in the back of a police van bragging of their brutal murder - with Atkins confessing he'd do it 'again and again'.

According to prosecutors, Pereira asked Atkins 'do you regret anything?' to which he 'chillingly' responded: 'I'll look 'em straight in the eye and say, 'Yeah. I'd do it again and again and again.

'If you let me go today, I'd find another one and do it again. Drug dealers, and pushers. Kill, decapitate, and eat the f****r.'

Opening the trial at Winchester Crown Court, Hants, prosecutor Paul Calvin KC said Mr Shotton was murdered in August last year in Bournemouth, Dorset.

'He was murdered, his body was dismembered and various body parts were discovered in the Boscombe area of Bournemouth last summer,' he said.

'The facts surrounding this case are grisly.'

The jurors were told pedestrian Dana Burton was working for an events company handing out leaflets on the town's seafront on Saturday 26 August 2023 when she sought shelter from rainfall under some 'overhanging branches'.

The worker was left startled when a 'large package' landed in front of her with a heavy 'thud', the court heard.

Mr Calvin said Ms Burton initially noticed how the object 'smelt badly' as if 'something was rotting' but decided to walk away as she 'convinced' herself there was 'nothing to worry about'.

'As she approached the bench where she had previously sheltered she thought that the package had been moved and the grey masking tape looked loose,' he said.

'She went up to the package and realised that the shape was that of a human foot and some of it had become exposed.

'Those observations combined with the appalling smell made her realise that she ought to report it to the police.'

The court heard police arrived at the beach the Manor Steps Zig Zag, off Boscombe Overcliff Drive, in Dorset and after a 'thorough' search of the area - they discovered 'another leg'.

The following day, a postmortem examination was performed and the pathologist noted that the amputations were 'amateur enough that they had not been surgically removed', the court heard.

A sample of muscle tissue revealed the 'human remains' belonged to Mr Shotton, who at the time of his death was squatting in a 'derelict' bed and breakfast in Boscombe.

After obtaining call data from the deceased 48 year old's mobile phones, the police were led to nearby a pawn shop where they uncovered that Pereira had brought in Mr Shotton's iPhone on August 18th.

On September 1, the police went to Pereira's home and discovered her partner of 18 months 'hiding behind a wheelbarrow at the side of the property'.

The couple were arrested and the following day, after conducting a 'forensic' search of their house, found the 'severed arms' of Mr Shotton in two black bin bags outside.

The court heard the couple were taken to Poole Magistrates Court on September 2 and unbeknownst to them, police had set up a 'covert device' in the back of their van to record Pereira and Atkins' conversation.

In the recording, Atkins can be heard telling his girlfriend 'I went into the garden to get rid of the f*****g arms'.

During her final police interview, on September 3, Pereira told police a series of statements which 'are not reflected in the audio recording' taken in the police van.

The prosecutor told the jurors that Pereira had told police: '[Atkins] told his solicitor that if he admitted that he did it, if he admitted that he cooked Simon's head up and ate his cheeks, would it get me off the hook.'

Pereira also told police that Atkins had said 'God had told him to do it' in the van, although this was not 'captured' in the police recording.

She told police Mr Shotton had stayed at her address two weeks prior to his death - and Atkins 'did not like' him as he was 'not giving them enough drugs for allowing him to stay'.

Pereira alleged that on one evening, Atkins had shouted at Mr Shotton, and she later woke up to find her partner in the garden burning a fire and sawing with a 'saw from Wilko's'.

The trial was then told a 'massive search operation' conducted in the 'wider Bournemouth area' located Mr Shotton's torso in a 'grisly' discovery at Boscombe Chine Gardens.

Mr Calvin KC said: 'A search officer followed what he described as 'the smell of death' to a hedgerow where he discovered a substantial black suitcase.'

According to the prosecutor, there were 'flies' on this suitcase as well as a 'stench of death which was immediate and intense'.

Inside, they discovered 'a headless human torso'.

Pereira and Atkins pleaded not guilty to murder, perverting the course of justice, and preventing the burial of a corpse.

The four-week trial continues.