ONE of the men accused of murdering Guy Hedger told a prison officer his co-defendant was the shooter, a court has heard.

Scott Keeping was an inmate at HMP Winchester in May when he allegedly told the officer he had only gone to Mr Hedger’s home to steal valuables in order to fund his drug habit.

He then said Kevin Downton was responsible for firing the gun which killed Mr Hedger, it was heard.

Mr Hedger, who was 61, died of a shotgun injury to his chest inflicted at his home in Castlewood, St Ives in the early hours of April 30 this year.

Prosecutors allege he was injured during the course of a bungled burglary when two masked men broke into the property armed with a sawn-off shotgun.

On the second day of a trial at Winchester Crown Court today, Nigel Lickley QC told jurors Keeping had also spoken at length with a fellow inmate at the prison, Dean Lee.

In the course of their conversation, Keeping “revealed a considerable amount of detail about the murder and burglary”, Mr Lickley said.

The defendant allegedly told Mr Lee he was in prison for an aggravated burglary that had turned into a shooting.

He said there were £200,000 and jewellery in a safe, but a panic button had been pressed by one of the men in the house, it was heard.

“Access was gained around the side of the house. The two men were in bed and the man who died would not open the safe,” Mr Lickley alleged Keeping had revealed.

“[He said] one of the males hit the panic button and the male was shot.

“The person who shot the male was the youngest who later handed himself in.

“That was Kevin Downton.”

Keeping allegedly told Mr Lee he had been waiting in a car parked nearby.

Keeping and two of his co-defendants, Downton and Jason Baccus, first appeared at Poole Magistrates’ Court charged with murder on May 6 this year.

Before the hearing got underway, Keeping “became animated”, Mr Lickley said.

“[He] held out his left hand, pointed towards people at the back of the court and made a pulling trigger motion with his right hand, as if firing a gun,” the barrister told jurors.

Prosecutors allege Mr Hedger was shot after his husband, Simon Hedger-Cooper, pressed a panic alarm on the wall of their bedroom believing both were going to be killed.

Jewellery, watches and bags worth more than £120,000 were reportedly taken from the couple’s home following the incident.

Some of the items were found hidden inside a jiffy bag inside a post box in Western Avenue and in bushes near the Brook Road allotments, it was said.

Police reportedly found parts of a 12-bore shotgun were discovered in the River Stour near Canford School on August 27.

Baccus, 42, and Keeping, 44, both of Verney Close in Bournemouth, and Kevin Downton, 40, of Winterborne Stickland near Blandford, deny murder, aggravated burglary, possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and burglary.

Helen Keeping, 40, of Verney Close, pleaded not guilty to two charges of assisting an offender.

The trial continues.