A CARPENTER accused of shooting a businessman dead in a botched burglary at his home admits being a thief with a drug addiction but denies murder.

Kevin Downton told Winchester Crown Court he would sit alone in his van to snort cocaine because he was ashamed of the habit and regularly stole diesel from lorries to substitute his own fuel supply.

The 40-year-old is one of three men standing trial accused of killing Guy Hedger.

Mr Hedger, 61, was shot during a raid at his £1 million home in Castlewood, Ashley, near Ringwood, Hampshire, in the early hours of April 30 and died.

Downton, of Winterborne Stickland, near Blandford, and his co-defendants Jason Baccus, 42, and Scott Keeping, 44, both of Verney Close, Bournemouth, all deny murder.

Yesterday Downton told the court he would often carry out commercial burglaries on industrial estates and particularly steal diesel from lorries - sometimes three or four times a week.

But when questioned by his defence barrister Adam Feest QC, he said he never carried out domestic burglaries.

Earlier in the trial the court heard how he told police he was not involved in the killing, and that earlier that evening he had been shopping at Toys R Us in Poole to buy a birthday present for his seven-year-old daughter.

He said he met Baccus in prison and the pair became friends but they had not spoken for about 10 years because of a row over Downtown’s girlfriend.

He said he met Keeping through Baccus about a year before and did not know him well.

Downton visited the home of his co-defendants several times in the days before Mr Hedger’s death to buy cocaine, the court heard.

He said he started having a problem with the drug in January - initially taking it on Friday and Saturday nights but then every day.

He told the court this led to him sitting alone in his van so he could keep the habit a secret.

He said: “In the beginning it was something I wanted when I had a drink.

“I was just shutting myself off from everybody else. I was hiding it, I was ashamed and didn’t want anybody to know.

“I couldn’t stop. I was addicted.”

The three male defendants also pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated burglary and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.

Baccus and Downton admit one charge of burglary of industrial premises in Verwood on the same day as the Castlewood incident, but deny another offence of burglary in the same area.

Helen Keeping, 40, from Poole, denies two charges of assisting an offender relating to Baccus by allegedly disposing of stolen property and fellow defendant Keeping by allegedly providing him with a false alibi and disposing of stolen property.

The trial continues today.