AN 'obsessive' man murdered his ex's new lover before burning his body in his car to make it look like he committed suicide, a court heard.

Mark Chilman, 52, of Old Post Office, Pencombe, Bromyard, denies murdering Neil Parkinson, whose body was found in the driver's seat of his burnt-out BMW in a lay-by in Ankerdine Road, Cotheridge, off the A44 between Bromyard and Worcester.

His trial began at Worcester Crown Court yesterday, after the alleged murder on December 12 last year.

Mark Heywood QC opened the case to the jury, telling them the 66-year-old father's body was found in the lay-by after neighbours reported seeing a fire there at around 10.30pm.

Mr Parkinson had been heading home to Clifton-Upon-Teme, leaving his partner's home at Giltedge Farm in Broadwas, near Worcester, after they had enjoyed an evening together, including a takeaway meal.

A post-mortem examination on the 'significantly burnt body' of Mr Parkinson revealed a depressed fracture to the base of his skull that was not caused by the fire.

Bloodstains on the farm gatepost matched the DNA of Mr Parkinson, leading the prosecution to argue that this was where the blow was struck as he opened or closed the gate, and that the injury would have been enough to render Mr Parkinson unconscious.

Mr Heywood told the jury: “The evidence gathered in the investigation into how he met his death that night demonstrates he was murdered by this defendant who had arranged the body in that car and set alight to the car to make it appear that Mr Parkinson killed himself.”

He said that Juliet Adcock, the defendant's ex-partner, had begun a new relationship with Mr Parkinson.

Her previous relationship with Chilman was described as 'long and unhappy' on her part and she had ended it in June 2020 which the defendant 'did not take well'.

Chilman was described as being 'obsessively concerned with what she was doing' and he had learned that she had started a new relationship with Mr Parkinson.

"He resented Mr Parkinson for that and made plans to kill him and make it appear he had committed suicide and to agree a reconciliation with the woman he could not bear to be without" said Mr Heywood.

He even talked about castrating Mr Parkinson, the court heard.

Chilman had even fitted a tracking device to Mrs Adcock's car, wrote love messages in lipstick on her mirror and left a noose and other 'morbid items' at her farm, the court was told.

Mr Heywood said: "He (Chilman) would find reasons or excuses to come to the farm and let himself into the house and help himself to books and cash belonging to her. He once left a message in lipstick across her mirror telling her that he would love her forever.”

At 10.17pm on the day of Mr Parkinson's death, Mrs Adcock received a text from someone introducing themselves as Neil but from a phone number she did not recognise.

The message read: “I lead a double life. I use and abuse women.”

She formed the view that the message did not come from Mr Parkinson, knowing how he expressed himself, and that the words more closely resembled the way Chilman expressed himself.

The trial continues.