Kayleigh Dunning Portsmouth murder trial: Accused Mark Brandford blames other men over revenge porn claims

Accused killer Mark Brandford, 49, told jurors at Portsmouth Crown Court he and his partner Kayleigh Dunning, 32, would take intimate recordings of one another during their relationship.

But the Colas road sweeper insisted he was not behind compromising pictures and videos of Ms Dunning being sent via WhatsApp to her boss, brother and circle of friends.

The defendant denies murdering Ms Dunning after she was found beaten to her death at his Kingston Crescent flat in North End overnight on December 16-17, 2019.

He denies a charge of revenge porn after a fake Facebook profile was set up with a naked picture of Ms Dunning before friend requests were sent out.

He told the court his girlfriend had lost her phone at her mum’s house before the messages and videos were broadcast.

Brandford and Ms Dunning ended up staying at her mum’s house where she had a fling with a man who was staying there, the court heard.

‘We were all drinking and dancing and then everyone went to bed and then I got a text message from Kayleigh which I thought was strange,’ he said.

‘I opened the message and realised it wasn’t for me.’

He added: ‘It was a naked picture of Kayleigh coming out of the shower. I didn’t know who had taken the picture.

‘I had never taken pictures of her at her mum’s house.’

Following the shock discovery Brandford told jurors he later found intimate messages on Ms Dunning’s phone to her former partner Dean Drooney and another man at her mum’s house.

Asked by Sarah Jones QC, for the defence, if he knew about this prior to these discoveries, Brandford said: ‘I had a rough idea but couldn’t prove it. She was always saying she was spending time with her dad.’

Ms Jones asked: ‘She called you by other men’s names and you knew she was seeing others. Did you mind?’

‘Of course I did but I loved her,’ Brandford replied.

The defendant said Ms Dunning came to see him one time after calling him by the wrong name. ‘She said she still wanted to be with me but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be with her,’ he said.

He added: ‘I told her it’s not working out with you calling me different names all the time.’

Asked if he sent the sexualised images of Ms Dunning, Brandford replied ‘no’ before adding: ‘Kayleigh thought it was two people.’

Brandford said despite his reservations he continued his relationship with Ms Dunning with the pair having ‘some good days and some bad days’.

Brandford denied having anything to do with setting up the fake Facebook profile. ‘I’m not very good with technical stuff. I find it hard to do,’ he said.

SEE ALSO: Fatal A27 crash

When asked by prosecutor Simon Jones how three photos from his phone ended up being the same pictures on the fake Facebook account, Brandford suggested the images could have ended up on the site after ‘photos had been forwarded to Kayleigh’s account’.

Mr Jones fired back: ‘You created the Facebook account didn’t you?’

‘No sir,’ Brandford replied.

‘Can you think of anyone who would create the Facebook account?’ Mr Jones replied.

‘No sir,’ Brandford said.

When giving evidence earlier, the road sweeper told the court he ‘loved’ his city centre cleaning job in which he was well known and had the nickname ‘Mr Portsmouth’.

‘I had the name because I would talk to everyone and people would know of me on Commercial Road,’ he said.

(Proceeding)

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news online - as well as fewer adverts, access to our digital edition and mobile app.

Our trial offer starts at just £2 a month for the first two months.