A MAN has been found guilty of ‘savagely murdering’ his friends while their toddler slept in a nearby room.

Geoffrey and Michelle Hibbert were stabbed to death by their friend Stanley Elliott on June 20, 2021, at their bungalow in Buckland Avenue, South Ham.

Elliott had been babysitting for the couple while they were out in Reading, and at around 1.30am Mr and Mrs Hibbert returned home.

At 1.58am Mrs Hibbert made a 999 call using Elliott’s mobile phone to report that her husband had been stabbed. During the call she said she had also been attacked.

Police arrived at the scene at just after 2am and found their bodies in the property.

Mr Hibbert, 61, had 58 separate injuries, to the head, neck, trunk and limbs, including “extensive, multiple, catastrophic blunt force trauma and stab wounds”, while “defensive type wounds to the hands and arms” indicated a fight.

Basingstoke Gazette:

Mrs Hibbert, 29, died of blood loss from multiple stab wounds including seven to the neck.

Today (Friday) a jury at Winchester Crown Court found Elliott, of Vidlers Farm, Kiln Road, Sherborne St John, guilty of two counts of murder.

The jury found Elliott guilty of murdering Mr Hibbert by a majority of 10 to two and Mrs Hibbert by a majority of 11 to one.

He will be sentenced in the same court on March 31.

The judge, Mr Justice Garnham, told the defendant: “The sentence I have to pass on you, Mr Elliott, is one of life imprisonment. I have also to determine the minimum sentence.”

During the trial, jury was played the “harrowing” 999 call made by Mrs Hibbert using the defendant’s mobile phone.

She told the operator “Stan Elliott” was attacking her and was heard saying: “Someone has just stabbed me and stabbed my husband. I’m in my house.”

Mrs Hibbert is then heard screaming before shouting: “No, no, please. I have got to look after (my son). Please.”

Elliott was also linked to the murders by blood found on his motorcycle, which he rode home on.

The killings came after Elliott and Mr Hibbert were co-accused of burglary at Buzz Bingo in Basingstoke in January 2020 in which £28,000 had been stolen.

The pair were arrested after Mr Hibbert’s phone was found by contractors who had been called to the bingo building to “reinforce the roof space” in the wake of the incident.

Detective Constable Thomas Bailey confirmed that police were able to access the pink iPhone, and found on it photos of Mr Hibbert and his family, as well as messages containing his full name and address, and his Apple ID.

Alongside this were messages between him and “Stan” - later identified as Elliott’s number - seemingly related to the burglary.

The trial heard that Mr Hibbert said to police on the day before he was murdered that his phone - left behind at the bingo hall - had been borrowed by Elliott, and that he had not been involved.

Opening the case last month, prosecutor Sarah Jones QC said: "He pointed the finger, in effect, at Stan Elliott and claimed that he himself had nothing to do with the burglary."

The court was told that paperwork relating to the the case and Mr Hibbert blaming Elliott was found in the bin at the Hibbert's home following the murders.

SEE ALSO: South Ham murders: Brother pays tribute to Geoffrey Hibbert

However, Ms Jones added that "the Crown cannot say for certain whether Stan Elliott knew of the paperwork in the bin".

Elliott said he planned to “take the blame” for the burglary as Mr Hibbert was worried about his son being taken into care if he went to prison.

During their search, police also found multiple recordings of Mrs Hibbert having sex with a number of men at her home, it can be reported for the first time.

Chris Henley QC, defending Elliott, told a preliminary hearing Mrs Hibbert was a “sex worker” and the videos were taken on a number of recording devices. He said that the Hibberts had reportedly blackmailed men with the footage of them with Mrs Hibbert.

Mr Henley said: “There is no dispute the men who came to the property were being recorded."

Mr Henley also said Mr Hibbert was involved in a row with members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang about 12 years before his death.

In his closing speech, Mr Henley said: "Mr Hibbert was not an honest man, he was someone who collected many enemies.”

During the trial, the jury were shown police dash cam footage, which shows what appears to be a motorbike, leaving the street at approximately 2.06am, but Elliott said that wasn’t him – despite the prosecution’s statement.