Investigators who brought a murderer to justice after disposing of his tenant’s severed body parts in packages spent thousands of hours working overtime on the case.

Benjamin Atkins, 49, murdered Simon Shotton, 49, at his home in Bournemouth in August 2023 following a dispute over £30 and drugs.

Atkins will be sentenced to at least 21 years in prison after an initial 19-year sentence extended in October.

Dorset Police said officers worked a total of around 3,600 hours of overtime during the investigation, with around 200 of them claimed throughout the case.

Atkins’ partner Debbie Pereira, 39, who was jailed for perverting the course of justice and obstructing a lawful burial, also had her sentence increased to six years last month.

In a reply Freedom of Information request According to a statement published on Dorset Police’s website, police said officers were paid £132,738 in overtime for helping to bring Atkins and Pereira to court.

It also said it had spent £37,586 on help from other forces and £13,030 on other running costs.

Mr Shotton’s legs were dumped on the Manor Steps Zig Zag footpath on Boscombe beach after he was killed.

The hearing was told that a member of the public was taking shelter under a tree when he fell near a package containing human remains.

In September 2023, the victim’s arms were found in the couple’s garden in Aylesbury Road and his body was found in a suitcase in Boscombe Chine Gardens.

Mr Shotton was living in a tent in the couple’s garden and was giving them drugs instead of paying rent.

During his trial, Atkins admitted killing Mr Shotton and dismembering his body but claimed he had acted in self-defence.