BODY-WORN cameras have captured the arrests of a couple accused of murdering a man and dismembering his body.
Footage shows Debbie Pereira sobbing as she is placed in handcuffs, while Benjamin Atkins hides from officers behind a wheelbarrow.
The couple were arrested at their flat in Aylesbury Road, Boscombe, on the evening of September 1, 2023.
It followed the discovery of two severed legs, belonging to a man called Simon Shotton, at the Manor Steps zig zag in Boscombe on August 26.
PC Elliot Labouchardiere’s body worn camera captured the moment Pereira was detained by officers in her living room.
She asked: “What's going on? What's going on? What's going on?"
When PC Labouchardiere told 39-year-old Pereira she was under arrest on suspicion of murder, she replied: "What? What do you mean I'm under suspicion of murder?"
Pereira then started to cry, before repeatedly saying: "I haven't done anything wrong."
PC Labouchardiere asked Pereira if she was alone at the flat, to which she replied “Yes”.
Meanwhile, PC Michael Day was recording on his body worn camera as he passed through the flat and into the garden.
PC Day shone a torch to look around before spotting Atkins hidden by a wheelbarrow.
Atkins, 49, was too arrested on suspicion of murder.
He remained quiet, except from confirming his name as “Benjamin” and answering “No” when asked if he had anything on him.
Atkins and Pereira are currently facing trial at Winchester Crown Court, accused of murdering Mr Shotton.
On Tuesday, the court heard a statement from crime scene investigator Adam Brew, who had conducted forensic examinations at the defendants’ home following their arrests.
Mr Brew described a “distinct smell of decomposition” in the garden, which was “detectable at intervals, despite wearing a mask”.
He confirmed two black bags containing Mr Shotton’s arms were located under the wheelbarrow that Atkins had been hiding by.
The jury were also shown two of Pereira’s police interviews, conducted the day after her arrest.
In the first interview, Pereira said Mr Shotton had only been to her and Atkins’ flat once, and claimed she had no idea he’d died, or been dismembered.
In the second interview, she said Mr Shotton had stayed at their flat for two nights, and then in the tent in the garden.
She also noted that Atkins had been ‘burning stuff ’ in the back garden, and purchased large black bin liners, bleach, and tape on August 18.
It is alleged by prosecutors that Atkins and Pereira murdered Mr Shotton on the morning of August 18, before dismembering and disposing of his body.
Atkins has admitted to charges of perverting the course of justice, and preventing the burial of a corpse, but denies murder.
Pereira denies perverting the course of justice, preventing the burial of a corpse, and murder.
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