Man who scattered lodger's body parts around Bournemouth has sentence increased

A man who murdered and dismembered a lodger before leaving packages of body parts along the Bournemouth seafront has had his minimum prison term increased at the Court of Appeal.

Benjamin Atkins, 49, was convicted of the murder of 49-year-old Simon Shotton, whose legs were found by a member of the public in the Boscombe area of the Dorset seaside resort in August 2023.

Mr Shotton had been living in a tent in the garden of the flat Atkins shared with his girlfriend, 39-year-old Debbie Pereira, in Aylesbury Road, Boscombe, giving the defendants drugs in lieu of paying rent.

In July, a judge at Winchester Crown Court jailed Atkins for a minimum of 19 years and handed a four-year sentence to Pereira after she was acquitted of murder but convicted of perverting the course of justice.

However, following a reference from the Solicitor General under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme, both sentences were increased at a hearing on Tuesday.

Atkins will now face a minimum term of 21 years, while Pereira’s sentence for perverting the course of justice was increased to six years.

Louise Oakley, for the Solicitor General, told the Court of Appeal that a fight broke out between Mr Shotton and Atkins on August 18 2023.

During his trial, Atkins admitted to killing Mr Shotton at the couple’s home and dismembering his body but claimed he had acted out of self-defence.

However, Ms Oakley said: “The learned (sentencing) judge concluded that the violence inflicted on Simon Shotton was ferocious and unnecessary.”

The barrister told the court that Atkins “systematically” dismembered Mr Shotton’s body “over a number of days”, and later tried to burn the lodger’s head in a back garden fire pit.

She said: “Only tiny fragments were ever recovered. Atkins has never said what he did with the rest of his head.”

Mr Shotton’s torso was discovered in a suitcase in Boscombe Chine Gardens on September 6.

Ms Oakley told the court that the murder was aggravated by elements including Mr Shotton’s dismemberment and how his belongings were sold after his death.

She continued: “Bearing in mind all of those matters, the increase of four years of the minimum term of 15 years was too little.”

Judges at the Court of Appeal were told there was an “extensive cleaning operation to remove all traces of blood from the property” by Atkins and Pereira.

Pereira did not take part in the fight, but did not call the emergency services, and acted as a “decoy” when Atkins stole a hacksaw, the court was told.

Ms Oakley said: “Over a two week period, Miss Pereira participated in the process… She allowed her property to be used and took active steps to help him.”

Zafar Ali KC, for Atkins, said his sentence was not unduly lenient and that the sentencing judge “was best placed to fully understand the nuances of the case”.

He added that the judge, Mrs Justice Stacey, was an experienced High Court judge who was “at all times proactive” during the six-week trial.

Ignatius Hughes KC, for Pereira, said that she had a “so much secondary” role.

He continued: “It was Atkins who had committed the murder, it was Atkins who dismembered the body, it was Atkins who took parts of the body away from the flat and concealed them.”

Ruling that both sentences were unduly lenient, Lord Justice Bean said: “We are very conscious of the fact that the learned judge had heard all the evidence and great respect is to be accorded to the evaluation of the facts by the judge who has presided over the trial.

Lord Justice Bean, sitting with Mr Justice Johnson and Mrs Justice Heather Williams, continued: “Even if Atkins’ criminality had been limited to the killing itself and the subsequent acts had not taken place, the case would have required a minimum term well in excess of 15 years.

“But of course, Atkins’ criminality was not so limited.”

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