Mark Bradbury ‘battered to death’ by Daniel Shovelton, murder trial hears

The trial of Daniel Shovelton, who is accused of murdering 58-year-old Mark Bradbury at his home in Padgate last summer, began at Liverpool Crown Court today, Tuesday.

He denies murder.

Jurors heard that the defendant had a ‘desperate and expensive’ cocaine addiction, spending up to £1,000 a month on drugs.

Shovelton, who was sacked from his job as a courier with DPD in May 2019 for stealing, had racked up various debts to the tune of £53,000 and his home had been repossessed.

READ MORE > As it happened, man goes on trial accused of murder

The 40-year-old saw ‘small time’ cocaine dealer Mr Bradbury, who sold drugs in order to fund his own habit, as the ‘answer to his problems’.

On the evening of Thursday, August 1 2019, he is accused of subjecting his friend of 20 years to a ‘brutal’ and fatal attack.

A sports enthusiast and a ‘doting’ father who was known to many by his nicknames of Henry or H, the deceased was last seen alive at around 7pm when a female customer bought two bags of cocaine from him at his home on Station Road South.

Mark Bradbury with his daughter Hannah

Shovelton – who served in the army between 1998 and 2013, reaching the rank of sergeant – had made three trips to this address that day before his parents’ Kia Ceed car, which he was using while his mum and dad were on holiday in Turkey, was captured on CCTV in the area at 7.10pm.

He remained there for around three hours before leaving shortly before 10pm.

Concerns for Mr Bradbury began to mount over the following weekend as he had not responded to messages or picked up his dog from his brother’s house and had missed a dental appointment.

At around 10pm on Sunday, August 4, his brother, ex-partner and friends attended his home and found him dead on the floor next to the sofa of his bedsit.

‘Extensive’ blood staining was evident, while ‘numerous footprints in blood’ were also discovered.

Forensic examinations discovered that he had been ‘bleeding out’ on his bed after being assaulted in the bedroom.

A post-mortem investigation concluded that Mr Bradbury, who retired aged 55 but continued to work odd jobs as a man with a van, had died of head and neck injuries.

Prosecution barrister David McLachlan told the court: “Mark Bradbury had literally been battered to death.

“Daniel Shovelton, due to a desperate and expensive addiction to cocaine, was in desperate need of money and in desperate need of drugs.

“Mark Bradbury was an obvious and potential source of both.

“Daniel Shovelton was a man who had hit rock bottom – he had no job, everyone wanted money from him, he had a drug habit that was expensive.

“And Mark Bradbury was the answer to his problems, a small-time cocaine dealer who was likely to have both cash and drugs at his property.

“The prosecution say that he had killed Mark Bradbury in cold blood.

“He changed his clothes so as to get rid of any forensic opportunities that the police may have had.

“And the man who, only a couple of days before, had no money was now in the money.”

After the murder, Shovelton embarked on what he described as a ‘magical mystery tour’ under interview with police.

Having visited Tesco Extra on Winwick Road in a change of clothes at around 11.30pm, his phone was recorded in the area around Winwick Quay and Winwick Road shortly after.

He continued to Grappenhall, where his daughter lives with her mum, then Woolston Grange Avenue and the Hardwick Grange industrial estate before returning him at roughly 1am.

It is alleged that he disposed of evidence during this journey.

The following morning, Shovelton exchanged €60 for £50 at the Asda supermarket in Birchwood Shopping centre and bought £27 of scratch cards and lottery tickets from Mukti’s Mini Market in Longbarn.

Mr McLachlan asked the jury: “How had Daniel Shovelton come into money?

“It was only a couple of days previous that he was scrabbling around trying to make up £10.

“His newfound money had come from Mark Bradbury.”

Shovelton then texted daughter at midday in order to ‘fob her off’ saying: “Feeling a bit flat today, and probably not good to be around.”

Mr McLachlan added: “He no doubt was a bit flat as he had killed a man the previous evening.

“He also had the drug dealers on his back chasing their money.”

Over the coming days he developed a ‘fascination’ with visiting the Warrington Guardian website in order to check if Mr Bradbury’s body has been discovered and researched detective inspector Sarah Oliver, the senior investigating officer in the case.

Detective inspector Sarah Oliver

First spoken to by the police on August 10, Shovelton said he had last seen the deceased in late June and had been informed of his death by his mum five days previously.

He was then arrested at his parents’ home on Saffron Close in Longbarn, where he had been living for around two years, on September 5.

Police searching Shovelton's home

Officers recovered a set of keys inside, with ‘tiny particles’ of Mr Bradbury’s blood discovered on the key ring.

Shovelton was also in possession of a gold ring belonging to the deceased, which he claimed he had given to him ‘months ago’, and a packet of Lambert and Butler cigarettes matching ones purchased by Mr Bradbury on the evening of his death.

The t-shirt and cap he had been wearing that day were not recovered.

Mr McLachlan said: “The prosecution say that, when you put all of the evidence together, the finger points fairly and squarely at the man in the dock for being responsible for killing Mark Bradbury.”

Shovelton’s trial continues, and is expected to last around three weeks.