Man 'executed' love rival with sword, court told

A man, accused of murdering his partner's former lover, did so in a "cold-blooded execution" with a samurai sword, a court has been told.

Michael Bretton, 41, from Dorset, is accused of killing lorry driver Craig Hurcombe at Gurney Slade, Somerset, a charge he has formally denied.

A jury at Bristol Crown Court heard Bretton had been having a casual sexual relationship with a woman, which he wanted to formalise. However, she turned down this idea and then restarted an old relationship with Hurcombe, which made Bretton jealous.

Prosecutor Mark Cotter KC said Hurcombe was killed at his place of work, adding: "It was a pre-meditated and cold-blooded execution, carried out with the use of a sword."

The court was told Hurcombe, 39, from Devizes, Wiltshire, had been in a relationship with Kate Saunders before Bretton but that relationship ended in 2023.

Saunders and Bretton met through an online dating website two years later and had a casual relationship.

The jury heard that Bretton wanted to formalise this to "boyfriend and girlfriend" but Saunders turned this down and ended contact, before rekindling her relationship with Hurcombe.

It is alleged Bretton then began stalking Saunders and Hurcombe, even fitting trackers to their cars.

"What is clear from the evidence is that Mr Bretton was obsessed with Kate Saunders and was clearly jealous of her renewed relationship with Craig Hurcombe," Cotter KC, said.

The jury heard how on the evening of New Years' Day, Hurcombe had gone to work at Blanchard's yard in the Gurney Slade area of Somerset.

CCTV footage from the yard showed him waving at the camera at 18:26 GMT.

He was reported missing on 10 January, his body was found in a shallow grave in woodland at his work site on 14 January.

The trial continues.

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