Will Glennon

Shane Porter, 35, appeared by video-link at Swindon Magistrates’ Court charged with murdering 36-year-old Jimmy Ward during a shooting at a travellers’ site in Calcutt near Cricklade, Wiltshire. Porter also faces a charge of possessing a shotgun without a certificate. His father, Eddie Porter, 74, and Tammy Brown, 42, are accused of assisting an offender. No pleas were entered, and all three were remanded in custody for a hearing at Bristol Crown Court. Police recovered a shotgun believed to have been used in the attack after firearms officers stopped a vehicle near the M4’s Hungerford junction.

Michael Bretton denies murdering Craig Hurcombe, claiming the 39-year-old accidentally fell, hit his head and impaled himself on a metal shaft at his workplace in Somerset. Bretton admits following Hurcombe, concealing and burying his body, burning his clothes, setting Hurcombe’s car alight and impersonating him in messages, but says he panicked after the accidental death. Prosecutors allege Bretton carried out a premeditated sword killing and stalked Hurcombe and Kate Saunders out of jealousy. The trial at Bristol Crown Court is continuing.