A MAN whose remains were found dumped around Boscombe had been cut up with a hacksaw, a court heard.
A forensic scientist with expertise in the dismemberment of bodies reached this conclusion after analysing Mr Shotton’s bones.
Mr Shotton’s severed legs were found in packages at Manor Steps zig zag off Boscombe Overcliff Drive on August 26 last year.
Debbie Pereira, 39 and Benjamin Atkins, 49, were arrested for his murder after enquiries revealed they had sold his phone to Cash Creators for £15.
Mr Shotton’s arms were later found in the garden of the defendants’ flat in Aylesbury Road, and his headless torso in a suitcase in Boscombe Chine Gardens.
Atkins admitted he burnt Mr Shotton’s head and disposed of skull fragments in Walpole Lane.
Pereria and Atkins are currently facing trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of murder.
On April 18, and day six of the trial, the jury heard from forensic scientist Adam Wilson.
He had analysed bones from Mr Shotton’s neck, arms, and thighs, and determined their markings to be consistent with cuts from a hacksaw.
Mr Wilson was also of the opinion that only one saw had been used in the dismemberment, or one type of saw.
The jury were presented with CCTV footage of Atkins and Pereira as they walked through Christchurch Road in Boscombe on August 19 – the day after prosecution alleges Mr Shotton was murdered.
Prosecutor Sam Barker noted Atkins was pushing a bike alongside him, with a ‘saw dangling from the handle bars’.
It is alleged the defendants had stolen the saw from Wilko in the Sovereign centre a short time earlier.
Mr Wilson said he had compared the teeth of a similar hacksaw from the same branch of Wilko with the markings on Mr Shotton’s bones.
It was his opinion the markings were consistent with the Wilko saw, and had the precise same teeth distribution and frequency as that which had been used to dismember Mr Shotton.
Mr Wilson also said he compared the markings to another wood saw that was seized from Atkins and Pereira’s flat.
He was able to exclude it from being responsible for the dismemberment of Mr Shotton due to its teeth sizes and profile.
The trial continues.
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