Boscombe 'body parts' murder trial hears from accused man

Benjamin Atkins said Simon Shotton was “frothing at the mouth” and “holding a knife above his head” when the pair fought over drugs money.

Atkins, 49, said he defended himself against Mr Shotton, and then chopped up his body after taking a “copious amount” of drugs.

He then put Mr Shotton’s headless torso in a suitcase and “wheeled it through the streets” before dumping it in Boscombe Chine Gardens.

The defendant is currently facing trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of murdering his lodger Mr Shotton alongside Debbie Pereira, 39.

• Read more: Bournemouth 'body parts' murder trial: Day 12 of evidence

On Tuesday, Atkins gave his account of Mr Shotton’s death on August 18, 2023.

Benjamin Atkins (Image: Social Media)

He recalled being out with Pereira shortly before 7am that morning when Mr Shotton phoned and began shouting “verbal abuse” down the phone and demanding money.

Atkins said he and Pereira returned to their flat in Aylesbury Road, Boscombe, where Mr Shotton was calling from.

He described how on entry to the utility room, they were confronted by an "aggressive" Mr Shotton who was holding a drugs syringe in a “threatening manner”.

Atkins recalled Mr Shotton saying, “You better have my f****** money or I'm gonna kill you.”

Atkins said he went to the bedroom with Pereira thinking it was “best to get away”, but shortly returned to the utility room to see Mr Shotton looking “possessed”.

He recalled how Mr Shotton started shouting at him again, before poking him in the stomach with a large knife, and then “lifting the blade above his head”.

Atkins said he “panicked” and tried to grab the knife blade, before “tussling with him”.

Forensics in Walpole Lane, where skull fragments were located (Image: NQ)

He told the jury how at one point, he picked up a hair brush and began hitting Mr Shotton “around the collar bone” with it.

The defendant said: “It was a battle, and it wasn't just the run of the mill punch up. This guy had the knife. He was coming to kill me, and I was doing all I could to get him off.”

Atkins described how there was a point Mr Shotton was "on top" of him with a knife, and made a “demonic noise”.

“Out of panic, and it's not like I've done any self defence classes, but I poked my thumb in his eye socket as hard as I could.", he said.

Atkins said he was then able to get on top of Mr Shotton, and ‘grabbed whatever he could’, which was a small and heavy music speaker.

He told the jury he “caved his head in” with the speaker “half a dozen times” or “enough to kill him”.

Police near Manor Steps zig zag following the discovery of Mr Shotton's legs

After confirming Atkins had managed to get the knife off Mr Shotton on “several occasions”, prosecutor Paul Cavin KC asked: “So it was necessary to cave his head in with a speaker?"

Atkins responded: "It was a figure of speech.”

Atkins went on to say he was “in bits” after the killing, but added: "It's difficult for me to be remorseful for someone who has tried to kill me in my own house.”

He accepted that he went into the bedroom after the killing and said to Pereira, “I think I killed him”, but denied telling her that Mr Shotton’s last words were ‘help me’, as she had recalled in her evidence.

Asked what happened next, Atkins said he smoked drugs with Pereira before beginning to “clean up”.

He said he didn’t report the incident to the police because he was fearful of the “repercussions” from the wider drugs circle Mr Shotton was said to be involved in.

Atkins said he stole a saw from Wilko the following day and used it to chop up Mr Shotton’s body – a process he said took “30 or 40 minutes”.

He told the jury: “I wouldn't have done that If I wasn't under the influence. I wouldn't have chopped him up. I was scared. I was traumatised. I was panicked.”

Atkins recalled that he burnt Mr Shotton’s head first, and had planned to also burn his limbs, but didn’t do so because it was “very very time consuming”.

He said that “within the first week” of Mr Shotton’s death, he went out on his bike with the severed legs in bags and placed them in a bush near Manor Steps zig zag.

He said that one or two days later, he put Mr Shotton’s headless torso in a suitcase and “wheeled his torso through the streets” before dumping it in Boscombe Chine Gardens.

Mr Shotton’s arms were found in the back garden of Atkins and Pereira’s flat in Aylesbury Road, and his skull fragments were found nearby in Walpole Lane.

Atkins said Pereira was always asleep when he went out to dispose the body parts.

He claimed Pereira’s only involvement was selling the phone to Cash Creators, and told the jury: “What I've done is truly barbaric, but hand on my heart, she had nothing to do with it.”

Atkins and Pereira (Image: Social Media)

Atkins also said his comment of ‘Kill, decapitate, and eat the f*****’ which was covertly recorded in the prison van was to “divert the attention” away from Pereira.

When asked if he had eaten part of Mr Shotton’s head, Atkins responded: “That’s ridiculous. No."

Also on Tuesday, Ignatius Hughes KC, representing Pereira, put to Atkins that he was controlling of Pereira in the relationship.

He suggested Atkins would "spill lies" to Pereira about his debts with Mr Shotton, and would use "triggers" from her "abusive childhood" against her.

Atkins has admitted to charges of perverting the course of justice, and preventing the burial of a corpse, but denies murder.

Pereira denies perverting the course of justice, preventing the burial of a corpse, and murder.