Bournemouth murder trial: Pereira blames Atkins for killing

Debbie Pereira said Benjamin Atkins admitted to her he’d killed Mr Shotton and had “got rid of him”.

She told a detective: “I’m not a murderer” and “I can’t be with someone that’s killed someone. I can’t”.

Pereria, 39, and Atkins, 49, are currently facing trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of murder.

Prosecutors allege the couple murdered Mr Shotton in the utility room of their Aylesbury Road flat in Boscombe on the morning of August 18, 2023.

His remains were found dumped around the Boscombe area in the weeks that followed.

On Wednesday, and day five of the trial, the court watched Pereira’s third police interview from September 3, 2023.

Pereira told Detective Constable Andrew Burley that Atkins had confessed to killing Mr Shotton while they were being transported in a police van to Poole Magistrates Court.

Simon Shotton's first remains were found at Manor Steps zig zag in Boscombe (Image: Newsquest)

She added; “He said he told his solicitor that if he admitted that he did it, if he admitted that he cooked Simon’s head up and ate his cheeks, would it get me off the hook?"

When Pereira was asked by DC Burley, “What did he [Atkins] actually tell you that he’s done?”, she responded, “He just said he got rid of him” and that “God told him to rid the world of drug dealers”.

Pereira also said Atkins told her he put Mr Shotton’s remains where “someone would find them ‘cause it wouldn’t matter because it had already decomposed”.

Pereira noted Atkins did not like Mr Shotton, and felt he was not giving them enough drugs for allowing him to stay at their flat. 

When asked about the last time she saw Mr Shotton, Pereira said it was at their flat, and Atkins was arguing with him about drugs.

She recalled how she told Atkins to “calm down”, and they went to bed.

Pereira said when she woke up at 11am the next day, Mr Shotton and all of his belongings were gone.

While Pereira gave multiple different accounts of what she did on August 18, she accepted she “probably went out twice”, going to the pharmacy, shops and Cash Creators to sell Mr Shotton’s phone.

She also accepted she had shoplifted items with Pereira that day, including bin liners, tape, disinfectant, bleach and a saw.

Pereira told DC Burley she was aware of Atkins then using the saw to chop up wood in the garden.

DC Burley accused Pereira of being “inconsistent” with her accounts, and giving “contradicting” statements.

He put to her: "If you’ve not actively played a part in the murder of Simon, it’s impossible for you not to have played a part in the covering up of his murder and the disposal of his body."

The trial continues.