Basingstoke deaths: Man 'may have murdered couple over burglary link'

A man accused of stabbing a couple to death may have believed he was being linked to a £28,000 bingo hall burglary, a court has heard.

Stanley Elliott, 53, denies murdering 61-year-old Geoffrey Hibbert and his wife Michelle, 29, last June.

Winchester Crown Court heard Mr Elliott might have become angry in connection with the burglary that Mr Hibbert had been accused of committing.

Mr Hibbert had been due to appear in court accused of being involved.

Sarah Jones QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr Hibbert's mobile phone had been found at the scene of the break-in at Buzz Bingo in Basingstoke.

She said a court document, in which Mr Hibbert claimed to have lent his phone to Mr Elliott at the time of the burglary, was found by police investigating the double murder, in a bin at the couple's home.

She said: "We can't say for sure the burglary has anything to do with why Geoffrey and Michelle met their death, it may be a red herring, it may be he [Mr Elliott] was acting for an unknown reason, only he can tell us."

The court heard the couple had gone out for a drink in Reading, Berkshire, on 19 June.

They returned to their home in Buckland Avenue, Basingstoke, in the early hours of the following day, where they were stabbed to death by the defendant, jurors were told.

Ms Jones said Mr Hibbert died as a result of 58 stab wounds and blunt force injuries, and Mrs Hibbert died of multiple stab wounds.

The prosecutor added that Mr Hibbert suffered defensive wounds to his arms and hands which showed he put up a "spirited defence".

She told the court Mrs Hibbert made a 999 call during the attack using the defendant's mobile phone.

During the call she said she and her husband had been stabbed and when asked by the operator who had done this to them "replied with perfect clarity, Stan Elliot", Ms Jones added.

The prosecutor said that DNA tests on blood stains at the property were a billion times more likely to be linked to the two victims and the defendant than to another person.

She added that a similar match was found in blood discovered on Mr Elliott's body and on his motorcycle, after he was arrested.

The court also heard that a police search of the Hibbert's house found that a network hard drive, believed to have been connected to CCTV cameras, had been removed.

Unconnected hidden cameras were also found inside the house, including a teddy bear with a camera in its eye.

The trial continues.

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