Masked burglars broke into a £1m house and shot dead a business executive with a sawn-off shotgun as his husband watched before making off with £120,000 worth of valuables, a court has heard.

Jason Baccus and Kevin Downton broke into the home of Guy Hedger and Simon-Pierre Hedger-Cooper in a quiet Dorset village while the couple slept, a jury at Winchester crown court was told.

Baccus, 42, said to be in charge, allegedly told the couple: “We will shoot you if you don’t do what we say,” and ordered them to lie on their bed.

Baccus and Downton demanded to know the codes to two safes in the bedroom but neither man complied, it was claimed. Hedger, 61, got out of bed and, believing they were both going to be shot, his husband activated an alarm.

As Hedger stood naked, he was shot in the chest by Downton, 40, the court was told.

The raiders fled the luxury detached property near Ringwood with £120,000 worth of watches, jewellery and bags. They also took with them the couple’s phones in an attempt to to “buy a few precious moments in their escape”, meaning Hedger-Cooper could not use his to call emergency services.

According to the prosecutor Nigel Lickley QC, a third man, Scott Keeping, 44, acted as a lookout and the trio made off in a black Ford Focus.

Hedger, a marketing director for an insurance company who had been with Hedger-Cooper for 12 years, died from blood loss as a result of the shooting, which was aggravated by a pre-existing heart condition.

The court heard that stolen valuables were found in nearby bushes and in the flat where Baccus and Keeping lived, and a high level of gunshot residue was found on a snood used by Downton hidden in his car.

DNA from a cigarette placed Baccus at the scene, the jury was told. A bracelet stolen from the house was found hidden behind the television in the flat where Keeping and Baccus lived.

The trio deny murder, aggravated burglary and possessing a firearm with intent.

Lickley said the three men arrived at the scene of the raid at midnight but were spooked by a dog walker. To “pass time” they committed two burglaries at nearby industrial estates before returning at 3am.

Lickley asked: “Why take such a weapon loaded and capable of doing what it did unless you intended to use it? The people responsible were prepared to intimidate, threaten and kill, then get away.”

The prosecutor said the raid was well organised. “Each had a part to play and each knew what the others would do,” he said. “This was no random event, this was meticulously planned.”

Explaining how they got in, Lickley said: “It’s a large detached house reached by a long driveway and electric gates. It’s surrounded by gardens and a number of neighbours who were disturbed by the incident.

“The defendants entered by climbing a neighbour’s railings, they forced a window and entered the garage and from there easily got inside with a door that was unlocked.”

Lickley said the couple became aware of intruders when their dog started barking and ran down the stairs. Hedger went downstairs to see what was wrong, before returning shortly afterwards followed by the masked men.

Hedger-Cooper told police he remembered the man not holding the gun carrying two champagne bottles upside down. The prosecution say these had been taken from a wine rack in the garage and were being held as weapons.

Hedger-Cooper said that when his husband could not remember the combination to the safes he offered to help, and on his way into the dressing room where they were kept he pressed a panic button.



Lickley said: “Simon Hedger-Cooper said he would open it for him and moved towards the safes. But on the wall they have a panic button and as he went past, he pressed it.



“He had been thinking they might be shot anyway so he thought it best to press the button. When the panic button was pressed this set off the alarm and lights started flashing outside.

“Mr Simon Hedger-Cooper said almost straight away he heard a big boom and Mr Hedger saying ‘I have been shot’, or ‘I have been hit, help I’ve been shot.’”

Jurors heard that Hedger-Cooper went downstairs to find a phone and call for help.



During the 999 call Hedger could be heard groaning in pain in the background as his husband reassured him: “We have got an ambulance coming, darling.”



The court was told that when arrested about 60 hours after the shooting, Baccus became irritated by the plastic handcuffs being too tight.



Lickley told the jury he said: “I know I have done something naughty, but I am going to start kicking off if something isn’t done.”



Keeping’s wife, Helen, 40, is also in the dock charged with two counts of assisting an offender. It is alleged she concealed property for the trio. She denies the offences.

The trial continues.