THE judge in a murder trial told the jury "justice has been done".

Verdicts were reached in the murder trial of Benjamin Atkins and Debbie Pereira on Wednesday morning.

Atkins, 49, was found guilty of murdering 49-year-old Simon Shotton by a majority jury verdict of 11-1.

Pereira, 39, was found not guilty of murder, but found guilty of perverting the course of justice by a unanimous jury verdict.

The defendants have been facing trial at Winchester Crown Court since April 10, accused of murdering Mr Shotton at their Aylesbury Road flat on August 18, 2023.

Mr Shotton's remains were found dumped in the Boscombe area in the weeks that followed.

Following the verdict, The Honourable Mrs Justice Stacey recognised the jury had sat through some "jaw dropping" evidence.

This included hours of CCTV footage, crime seen photographs, body maps of injuries and covert recordings, as well as evidence from forensics, pathologists and police.

The Honourable Mrs Justice Stacey told members of the jury: "By your verdicts, you can be assured that justice has been done and there is closure for all involved."

Prior to the trial, Atkins admitted to charges of perverting the course of justice, and preventing the burial of a corpse but denied murder.

Pereira also denied murder, as well as a charge of preventing the burial of a corpse and perverting the course of justice.

However, mid-way through the trial, Pereira changed her plea to guilty for preventing the burial of a corpse.