Jealous lover 'sent sex videos of girlfriend to her family and bosses before he beat her to death'

A jealous lover sent sex tapes and intimate photos of his girlfriend to her family and bosses to ‘create the illusion’ she had a crazed stalker before beating her to death himself, a jury heard today.

Mark Brandford, 49, is accused of sharing videos of him and Kayleigh Dunning, 32, having sex from a stolen phone of hers to make it seem like she had an unknown enemy.

In the lead up to her death, Brandford also allegedly sent anonymous ‘abusive and intimidating’ messages to Miss Dunning saying: ‘I’m going to f**k you up big time.’ 

Brandford was ‘creating the illusion that [Miss Dunning] had a stalker or enemy’ before killing the 32-year-old cleaner in a ‘brutal and ferocious’ attack at his home in Portsmouth, Hampshire, in December 2019, Portsmouth Crown Court heard. 

He is understood to have proposed to Miss Dunning that same night. 

Today a jury heard that Miss Dunning’s phone went missing in October 2018.

Shortly afterwards, intimate videos of Miss Dunning were sent to her bosses at the cleaning company she worked for. 

The videos were sent from her stolen phone and this was reported to the police.

Prosecutor Simon Jones said: ‘Police couldn’t find, at that stage, who was responsible. We now know who was responsible – it was the man who murdered her, Mark Brandford.’

The jury was told that in July and August 2019, while Miss Dunning and Brandford were living together, she began to receive ‘abusive’, ‘threatening’ and ‘unpleasant’ messages from another phone.

Meanwhile, videos of her having sex with Brandford were sent from the phone to her bosses, her family, and another lover Dean Drooney. 

The jury was told that Kayleigh was ‘very upset and distressed’ at these messages.

Images of her in her underwear were also sent to her family.

Mr Jones said both phones were being used by Brandford to ‘deceive’ Miss Dunning into believing someone else was sending them. 

One message referred to Brandford – who works for a civil engineering firm as a sweeper – as her ‘n***** lover’ and another said ‘I’m going to f*** you up big time’.

The court heard Miss Dunning was ‘mortified’ and was prescribed anti-depressants as a result of the messages that were being sent to her.

Brandford was interviewed by police about this and he ‘sought to frame himself as a victim’ by saying he had also received threatening messages. He even told police he had called one of the numbers and had ‘heard voices at the other end’.

Mr Jones said Brandford ‘might have planned the killing in a more sinister and pre-meditated way’ due to the ‘consistent way, over many months, he created the impression that someone else was out to get Kayleigh and make her life a misery’.

Brandford was ‘creating the illusion that she had a stalker or enemy’ the court heard.

Brandford even told police prior to the murder that someone else was getting into his flat while he wasn’t there.

Mr Jones said: ‘You may wonder whether the defendant had planned this killing and hoped to create the impression that she had been killed by an intruder or a stalker.’

Days before Miss Dunning was killed, one of the phones was topped up by Brandford and sent messages to Miss Dunning’s boss calling her a ‘fat c***’ and saying ‘Kayleigh wouldn’t be working there after Christmas’. 

Mr Jones said this had ‘sinister significance in hind
sight’.

He also set up a fake Facebook page in Miss Dunning’s name using her stolen mobile phone in November 2018.

Portsmouth Crown Court, Hampshire, had previously heard how Ms Dunning had been killed in a ‘prolonged and violent attack’ while she lay in bed naked.

Images posted to Brandford’s Instagram from the evening show Miss Dunning posing next to novelty balloons which said ‘Will you marry me?’ on them, a jury heard.

The next morning, Brandford left the flat just after 5am, before returning later and making a ‘sham’ 999 call, under the pretense that he had just discovered her body.

He was arrested that night and, in his interview with police, the street sweeper said that Miss Dunning had told him to turn off her alarm in the morning, calling him ‘noodle’ in the process.

The court heard that was her nickname for the other man she was seeing, Dean, of whom Brandford was said to be ‘heavily jealous’.

Mr Jones said: ‘The couple previously had had violent arguments when she accidentally called him by Dean’s name in the past.’

Brandford denies all charges. The trial continues.