Accused had anger problem

Winchester Crown Court was told that the remains of 25-year-old Tristian Lovelock were found around Basingstoke's St Nicholas Court and Russell Howard Park on the night of May 30 last year.

News of an answerphone message, allegedly left by Richard Markham on a friend's phone, led the police to Markham's home in St Nicholas Court, South Ham. Here, they found a partially-cooked arm in the oven.

This week, the jurors heard the opening of the prosecution case and, on Wednesday, evidence was given by several people who know Markham.

Markham, 28, who denies murdering Mr Lovelock, "became quite angry" at a misunderstanding during a trade show in Birmingham, said Josette White, who worked with him at furniture importers Theodore Alexander (London) Limited in Basingstoke.

Giving evidence, she said: "We talked about anger because of that, and he told me that he had previously had a problem controlling his anger."

She added that Markham told her he had experienced an unhappy childhood.

"He said he felt uncomfortable with his childhood and I understand that he had been sent to a military-type school, where he didn't feel he fitted in very well," she said. Markham's supervisor Shelley Curtis told the court he was a joker who was very likeable.

She added that he once turned up to a show with cuts and bruises on his knuckles and another time showed her a deep cut on his chest, which he said had been caused by someone sticking a broken glass into him.

Chay Howell, who has known Markham for more than 10 years, told the trial he was a boisterous man "who always seemed to be jumping about, seeking attention".

Mr Howell said Markham would start play fights, and did not like to lose. He would also make up dares to outdo people, like seeing who could hold a lighted cigarette next to their hand the longest.

Friends who drank regularly with Markham and Mr Lovelock in The King of Wessex Pub, in Winchester Road, Basingstoke, said both men were often drunk and this could make them aggressive.

Mark Beard told the court Markham's attitude changed when he was around Mr Lovelock. "He always seemed to like to do something a bit better than him Mr Lovelock," he said. "This happened every time, but mainly when he was drunk."

He added that the group went back to Markham's home on a number of occasions, and told the jury that Markham kept a number of implements there, including a Samurai sword, knives, a stick and a bayonet, which would sometimes be swung around with the sheath off.

Another member of the group, Matthew Fuller, said there were play fights at Markham's house which sometimes involved people tapping each other with the hammer.

He recalled the Samurai sword, saying: "He Markham sometimes showed it to us, brandished it and swung it around. I was there when he was asked to put it away - it was a dangerous weapon and accidents could happen."

He added that there had been times when Markham had told the others to calm down because he thought things were getting out of order.

The court also heard that Mr Lovelock had started a fight outside Bud's Bar in April 2002, during which he headbutted another man and broke his nose.

The trial was told he had also been arrested outside The King of Wessex in early May.

Another witness told the jury that weeks before Mr Lovelock died, Markham had threatened to kill him.

Steve Beard told the court he arrived home to find Markham and Mr Lovelock asleep. Markham woke up and said they had been to the pub that evening with a group of friends and at some point they had started a play fight. Mr Lovelock, Markham said, had tipped a table over, throwing him to the floor.

"From what he said, everyone had laughed at him," said Mr Beard. "He said he would have to sort him out because he had badly shown him up. He said he was going to kill him."

The witness said the conversation had taken place about two or three weeks before Mr Lovelock died and at the time Markham was very drunk and half asleep, having just woken up.