Hampshire man, 53, accused of couple's murder had been babysitting their young son, court told

Stanley Elliott, 53, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of the murder of 61-year-old Geoffrey Hibbert and his wife Michelle, 29.

Sarah Jones QC, prosecuting, said the defendant had been asked by the couple to look after their young son while they went for a night out in Reading, Berkshire, on June 19, 2021.

She said the couple had returned to their home in Buckland Avenue in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in the early hours of the morning where they were stabbed to death by the defendant while their son was asleep in his bedroom.

Ms Jones said: ‘Michelle Hibbert replied to a text from a friend hoping they had got home safe just as she was approaching their address.

‘It’s ironic she is reassuring her friend she is home safe because even though she would soon be returning home, she wasn’t safe.

‘Within half an hour, both had been stabbed multiple times and were bleeding to death in their home.

‘Someone who they thought was a friend, someone who they had trusted to look after their child, Stan Elliott, has turned on them and had savagely murdered them in their home with their son sleeping in a nearby bedroom.’

Ms Jones told the jury that Elliott might have become angered in connection with a £28,000 burglary at a bingo hall that Mr Hibbert had been accused of committing.

Mr Hibbert was due to appear in court accused of being involved in the break-in at Buzz Bingo in Basingstoke, because his mobile phone was found at the scene.

Ms Jones said that a court statement showing that Mr Hibbert had claimed to have lent his phone to Elliott at the time of the burglary was found by police investigating the double murder in a bin at the victim's home.

The prosecutor added that it was not known for certain whether Elliott had seen the court document and whether this was a motive for the murders.

SEE ALSO: Fareham man accused of making 2,700 indecent images of children pleads not guilty

The jury also heard a dramatic 999 recording of Mrs Hibbert pleading for her life in order to protect her son.

Mrs Hibbert made the call using the defendant's mobile phone.

She told the operator: ‘Someone has just stabbed me and stabbed my husband. I’m in my house.’

Mrs Hibbert added: ‘You have got to come soon or my husband is going to get killed.’

Mrs Hibbert is then heard screaming before shouting: ‘No, no, please. I have got to look after (my son), please.’

The jury was also shown police body-worn video footage captured by the first officers to arrive at the scene as they discovered the two bodies and the crying son in his bedroom.

Winchester Crown Court heard that Mr Hibbert died as a result of 58 stab wounds and blunt force injuries, while Mrs Hibbert died of multiple stab wounds.

She was found lying, partly naked, on the bed in their bedroom.

Elliott, of Vidlers Farm, Kiln Road in Sherborne St John, denies two counts of murder.

The trial continues.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.