Men jailed for murdering brother

Parts of 35-year-old Andrew Scanlan, of Peterborough, Cambs, were found in 2006 in two shallow graves in Hampshire.

Mark Baigent, 27, also of Peterborough, and James Baigent, 30, of Camberley, Surrey, were found guilty at Cambridge Crown Court.

Jeff Woods, 36, of Bracknell, Berks, was also jailed for life for murder.

James Baigent's wife Charlotte, 28, was convicted of assisting her husband and brother-in-law and was freed on bail to be sentenced on 11 April.

'Humiliated and killed'

The court heard the brothers and friend Woods beat Mr Scanlan after luring him to his death.

His head and hands were then cut off.

Passing sentence Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said: "Andrew Scanlan was kidnapped, humiliated and killed.

"Knowledge gained from watching hours of CSI tapes was used in an attempt to disguise the traces of the crime.

"These attempts were far from perfect and there were a number of oversights, especially mobile phone calls and inconsistent stories."

He concluded James Baigent had been the ring leader, Mark Baigent had delivered the final blow and Woods's axe had been used to cut off the victim's head.

James Baigent was ordered to serve a minimum tariff of 24 years, Mark Baigent 22 years and Woods 20 years.

Prosecutor Timothy Spencer told the court the Baigent brothers had been full of "hate" for their half-brother, dating back to 1998 when Mark Baigent had been jailed for attempted robbery after Mr Scanlan reported him to police.

Mr Scanlan was lured to the Aldershot area under the pretext of organising their mother's will, the court heard.

Crime Scene Investigation

The three then beat and stabbed the father-of-three to death before chopping off his head and hands and burying his body parts in two graves.

They then copied techniques from the US TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation to remove clues from a car.

The defendants used police fluorescent lights and sticky-tape wrapped around their hands to remove any fibres.

Police found Mr Scanlan's remains after Woods crumbled under pressure in a police interview.

The jury watched a video of a handcuffed Woods leading officers to the burial sites in dense woodland at Sandy Hill, near Aldershot.

Pathologists were unable to say exactly how Mr Scanlan died as he was so badly beaten but confirmed he had been stabbed in the chest.

Mr Karim Khalil, barrister for Woods, said his client knew there was a contract upon his life for "grassing up" the Baigent brothers.

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