A BUSINESSMAN was murdered by burglars who broke into his home armed with a sawn-off shotgun before stealing more than £120,000-worth of bags, watches and jewellery, a court has heard.

Peter Guy Hedger – who was known as Guy – died of an injury to the chest sustained at his home in Castlewood, St Ives, in the early hours of April 30 this year.

The trial of three men accused of murdering Mr Hedger started at Winchester Crown Court on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Nigel Lickley QC told jurors Mr Hedger, 61, and his husband, Simon Hedger-Cooper, were in bed at around 2.45am when their dog started barking.

Mr Hedger went to investigate. He returned moments later with two masked men behind him, it was heard.

Mr Lickley said one of the men was holding a shotgun, while the second had two bottles of champagne taken from Mr Hedger and Mr Hedger-Cooper's garage. The bottles were being held upside down “as weapons”, it was said.

Mr Hedger and Mr Hedger-Cooper were allegedly told: “This is a burglary. This is a burglary.

“We’ll shoot you if you don’t do what we say.

“This is a robbery. Lie down and face the wall.”

The couple lay on their stomachs with their dog between them as one of the men ransacked an adjacent dressing room and the second stood over them with the gun, it was said.

Two safes were then discovered in the dressing room.

One of the men asked: “What’s the code for the ******* safes?”

Mr Hedger, who was naked, had got up to assist the burglars with the codes, but after giving two digits “froze and seemed to forget what came afterwards”, it was heard.

Mr Hedger-Cooper, who had risen to help, was moving towards the dressing room when he decided to press an alarm button on the bedroom wall, believing both he and his husband would be shot, Mr Lickley said.

The alarm began sounding and the lights flashing when Mr Hedger-Cooper heard a “big boom” and turned to see Mr Hedger had been gunned down.

The court heard Mr Hedger was not involved in a struggle with the shooter when the shotgun was fired.

The gunman – who prosecutors allege is defendant Kevin Downton - fled the scene, closely followed by the second masked man, who is claimed to be Jason Baccus.

However, the man prosecutors say is Baccus turned in the doorway and returned to pick up a bag of valuable items he had left behind in the bedroom, it was heard.

Police quickly arrived at the scene and administered first aid until paramedics attended. Despite their efforts, Mr Hedger went into cardiac arrest at the scene and never regained consciousness.

He was rushed to Poole Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 5am. He had suffered a number of pellet wounds, as well as one large injury to the left side of his chest.

Wadding from the gun cartridge was found embedded in his body after his death. A post-mortem CT scan also revealed he had lead shot in the base of his heart, his stomach, his liver and a kidney.

Jason Baccus, 42, and Scott Keeping, 44, both of Verney Close in Bournemouth, along with Kevin Downton, 40, of Winterborne Stickland near Blandford, have all pleaded not guilty to murder.

Helen Keeping, 40, who is married to her co-defendant Scott Keeping, has entered not guilty pleas to two charges of assisting an offender, relating to Baccus, by allegedly disposing of stolen property and providing him with accommodation, and fellow defendant Keeping by allegedly providing him with a false alibi and disposing of stolen property.

The three male defendants also pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated burglary, possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and burglary of industrial premises in Verwood on the same day as the Castlewood incident.

Scott Keeping is also charged with a second count of burglary in Verwood. Both Baccus and Downton have admitted the charge.

Prosecutors allege that items stolen from inside Mr Hedger and Mr Hedger-Cooper’s home were later discovered in the Verney Close flat, in bushes near the property and in a Ford Focus purchased by Baccus and Scott Keeping in the days before the shooting.

A landline phone and Mr Hedger-Cooper’s iPhone were also allegedly taken and discarded near the house in St Ives.

Mr Lickley said the phones were taken for a “simple and callous reason – to stop the sole survivor, Simon Hedger-Cooper, from calling the emergency services to buy a few precious seconds as they fled.”

“This was no random unplanned event. It was carefully planned. They were not going to be stopped – hence the loaded gun,” Mr Lickley said.

“Why take such a weapon, loaded and capable of killing, as it did, unless you were prepared to use it?

“We suggest there is an obvious reason you would take a loaded gun – it was taken because the people who were responsible were prepared to use it to intimidate, threaten, kill and get away.”

Jurors were told there is "no dispute" over many of the details they will hear during the trial.

"There is no dispute that Mr Hedger was shot and murdered," Mr Lickley said.

"There is no dispute that there was an aggravated burglary of his home that night or that the people that were there were in possession of a loaded firearm.

"The issue in this case is who [did] it. The three male defendants deny any involvement in events."

The trial continues.

999 call played 

Jurors were played the 999 call Mr Hedger-Cooper made after the shooting.

During the call Mr Hedger-Cooper stammered and wept as he told the operator: "I need an ambulance.

"My house has been broken into. My partner has been shot."

Mr Hedger can be heard groaning in pain in the background, with his husband reassuring him: "We have got an ambulance coming, darling".

Mr Hedger also repeatedly called out: "Call an ambulance."

Mr Hedger-Cooper told the operator two men with balaclavas on had broken into the property.

Asled what if the weapon used was a "small handgun", he replied: "No, a shotgun."

Guy Hedger 'wasn't a top priority' 

PARAMEDICS were delayed from reaching Mr Hedger for 50 minutes after he suffered the shotgun injury.

Mr Lickley  told jurors: “The paramedics and an ambulance took some time.

“They arrived at 3.50am. It was a busy night and there was some initial confusion as to the nature of the emergency they were dealing with.”

Police administered first aid to Mr Hedger before paramedics arrived by applying pressure and bandages to his chest injury.

Officers with advanced first aid skills then attended to help and Mr Hedger, who had a pre-existing heart condition, was given an oxygen mask to help him breathe more easily.

Initially, Mr Hedger was able to speak to the officers. However, his condition deteriorated and he then stopped responding to questions and went into cardiac arrest.

Police officers performed CPR until paramedics eventually arrived. Mr Hedger was taken to Poole Hospital, with the ambulance arriving at 4.45am. He was pronounced dead at 5am.

A representative from the South Western Ambulance Service has since given an explanation for the delay, which happened because Mr Hedger wasn’t categorised as a top priority patient.

The spokesperson said: “It wasn’t categorised as category one.

“There are pathways to follow as part of the triage system and if someone if conscious and breathing, that call will be treated differently to someone who is not.

“Everyone is treated the same way under that system.”