A MAN on trial for murder allegedly killed another man in Somerset using a ‘Samurai’ sword, before taking off his clothes and setting his body and car on fire, the court has heard.
Michael Bretton, 41, of Armoury Road, Shaftesbury, Dorset, appeared in Bristol Crown Court today (July 14), accused of the murder of Craig Hurcombe.
During the prosecution’s opening statement, it was alleged that Bretton killed Mr Hurcombe with a sword, then stripped him and burned his body together with his clothing at his place of work - Blanchard Construction.
Mark Cotter KC, prosecuting, said: “During the evening of the first of January of this year, Craig Hurcombe, who was a lorry driver, was murdered at his place of work.
“It was a premeditated and cold-blooded execution, carried out with the use of a sword.
“The person who wielded that sword was the defendant, Michael Bretton.”
During the trial, the prosecution said that on January 1, Mr Hurcombe left to work at the Yard, on Roemead Road in the Gurney Slade area of Somerset.
Some days later, his body was discovered in a ‘shallow grave’ in some woodland on the site of the yard (on January 14).
Dr Amanda Jeffrey, a home office forensic pathologist, concluded Mr Hurcombe died because of a "single lengthy stab injury that penetrated through his torso".
He was also found to have defensive injuries to the fingers of his left hand, the type "caused when someone is trying to fend off an attacker who is armed with a blade".
The court heard CCTV footage showed Bretton also arriving at the Yard on Roemead Road on the evening of January 1 of this year.
Mr Cotter said: “Bretton went to the yard that night to kill Mr Hurcombe. He attacked and killed [him], he then stripped Mr Hurcombe and burned his body, no doubt hoping the body would not be found.
“He left the yard and returned later that night to remove Mr Hurcombe’s car from the scene and set fire to it.”
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The court heard Bretton also disposed of the sword in the River Stough and took Mr Hurcombe’s registered SIM in a "further sinister act" and used it to respond to text messages intended for him.
The court heard the motive for the alleged murder "is clear", as both Bretton and Mr Hurcombe are connected by a woman.
During the trial, it was said that this woman started a relationship with Mr Hurcombe in 2017, which ended in 2023 due to "turbulence".
She then met Bretton via an internet site in 2025, and they started a physical relationship, which lasted some months.
Later in 2025, Bretton said he wished for their relationship to become formal, which was not reciprocated, and so she "brought their relationship to a close".
Following this, she then "renewed" her relationship with Mr Hurcombe.
According to the prosecution, once Bretton discovered this, he tried to force his way into the woman's home in Portishead and called the police, falsely claiming Mr Hurcombe was breaching a restraining order.
The court heard that in December, Bretton stalked the couple, parked outside her home multiple times, approached both the woman and her brother and asked his mother to text her messages he drafted.
The court heard that, on December 13, a week before Mr Hurcombe’s death, Bretton ordered waterproof camouflage face paint and a balaclava from Amazon.
On December 22 and 23, Bretton’s Amazon account also ordered two True Tracker Pro 4G Rechargeable Magnetic GPS Trackers.
Prosecution said on Christmas Eve of last year one of the trackers went live in the vicinity of Bretton’s home address and, co-located with his BMW, was shown in the vicinity of the Railway Inn in Sandford just past 7pm – where Mr Hurcombe and his girlfriend were.
Mr Cotter said: “It can be inferred that Bretton knew they would be there or were likely to be there.
“It was a long journey for Bretton to make by car simply to have a drink on his own.
“There is a basis to suppose that even before Bretton had those trackers, he had another method to track Mr Hurcombe.”
CCTV footage showed Bretton entering the pub and standing at the bar. This attracted the attention of Mr Hurcombe, and "an altercation took place which resulted in them falling to the floor" at around 7.38pm.
Just before midnight on Christmas Day of last year, Bretton’s BMW and the tracker showed as located at Mr Holcombe's girlfriend's home address.
The court heard 45 minutes after the BMW and tracker arrived the BMW leaves Pheonix Way, but the tracker stayed there.
Mr Cotter said: “This leads to the overwhelming inference that Bretton had placed a tracker onto Mr Hurcombe’s Audi while it was parked.”
On the evening of Christmas Day, Bretton was making internet searches, including "how to keep an iPhone screen display on for a longer period without it going to sleep", and it was noted in court that Mr Hurcombe had an iPhone.
The court heard in the early hours of December 29, Mr Hurcombe drove his lorry to Wiltshire and did not return until New Year’s Eve. Upon his return, he discovered his tyres had been punctured.
A repair service was called, and the tyres were repaired. Prosecution said his observations led to the conclusion that the damage was ‘caused deliberately’.
On New Year’s Day, evidence suggests Bretton travelled to the yard at Blanchard Construction in Portishead after receiving a notification linked to a tracker he had allegedly placed on Mr Hurcombe’s vehicle.
CCTV and tracking data showed Bretton’s BMW arriving shortly before Hurcombe arrived at the yard at about 6.15pm.
Hurcombe was last seen alive on CCTV at 6.26pm after parking his car and walking towards his lorry.
Prosecutors say Hurcombe was killed shortly afterwards.
About an hour later, CCTV captured Bretton at the yard, and phone and location data allegedly showed him in possession of Mr Hurcombe’s mobile phone and SIM card, which were transferred between devices while searches were carried out on how to deactivate iMessage.
During the evening and early hours of January 2, the prosecution alleges Bretton returned to the yard to carry out a 'clean-up' operation.
CCTV, phone, vehicle-tracking and location data were said to show him moving between the yard at Blanchard Construction, Armoury Road and other locations, driving his mother’s Volvo, his BMW and Mr Hurcombe’s Audi, which was later found burned out.
Mr Cotter said: “What is clear from the evidence is Bretton was obsessed and clearly jealous of her renewed relationship with Mr Hurcombe.”
The court heard the police dive team recovered a 'rusty' Samurai sword near where Manston Road crosses the River Stour in Dorset.
Prosecution said Dr Jeffreys expressed the opinion it was the type of weapon that could be responsible for the infliction of "such a fatal injury".
The court heard Bretton was arrested just before midnight on the evening of January 12.
Packaging for the two trackers were found at his home address, and one of the trackers was found in his mother’s Volvo along with a pair of gloves.
The court heard that on January 14, Mr Hurcombe’s body was discovered.
The court heard Bretton also purchased a litre of motor oil on Amazon before Hurcombe’s death.
Bretton was charged with murder on January 15.
Bretton denies the stalking allegations and the charges of murder relating to the death of the 39-year-old.
The trial before His Honour Judge Hart continues.
