Rowan Sutton shook his head in disagreement from the dock as prosecutors detailed the final hours of the alleged murder of his former partner, Aimee Pike, during the closing stages of the Crown’s opening statement.

Sutton, 31, wearing a grey polo shirt and blue jeans, is standing trial at Plymouth Crown Court charged with the murder of 22-year-old Ms Pike on April 23, 2025, and sexually assaulting her on April 1, 2025.

The court heard that on July 6, 2026, Sutton pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

While maintaining his plea of not guilty to murder, Sutton now admits that he struck and killed Ms Pike with his Land Rover, claiming it was an accident, and admits to subsequently staging the scene on Embankment Road.

Resuming the prosecution opening on day three, James Daws KC took the jury through CCTV footage tracking the movements of Sutton’s Land Rover and subsequent second vehicle on the night of the killing.

The court heard that at 12:52am on April 23, seconds after a streetlight outside West Charleton Court switched off, Sutton left his flat carrying his three-and-a-half-year-old son.

Sutton allegedly used a gap in a hedge to avoid CCTV footage capturing him - instead of crossing the car park as usual - and made way to his Land Rover, which was parked in the nearby village hall car park.

CCTV captured his Land Rover leaving and turning towards Kingsbridge before footage from a private property near Bowcombe Bridge showed his headlights crossing the bridge, reversing into a boatyard, and turning back.

Mr Daws questioned Sutton’s account that he had left the flat out of concern for Ms Pike’s welfare:

"Why would you do that if you were worried about Aimee? The answer is, of course, you wouldn't. You would ring her, you would take your phone, and you'd go through Kingsbridge."

The prosecution highlighted a two-hour gap between 12:52am and 2:49am, during which there was no CCTV record of the Land Rover’s location.

Mr Daws suggested Sutton drove a "tortuous, indirect route" through rural back lanes to avoid cameras covering Kingsbridge.

At 2:49am, CCTV picked up the Land Rover passing Rake Quarry Barn travelling south, away from the caravan near Loddiswell where Ms Pike had been staying.

After another 50-minute absence from camera footage, the Land Rover was recorded returning to West Charleton Court at 3:41am, with evidence indicating their son was inside - but Ms Pike was not.

Prosecutors allege Sutton then snuck back around a hedge and accessed his Skoda vehicle - possibly to retrieve his mobile phone.

Sutton then entered his flat for just 20 seconds before leaving again and walking across the car park to his Skoda using a torch.

As Mr Daws suggested to the jury that Sutton had left the flat "ostentatiously" as a deliberate show to make it appear as though it was the first time he had left that night, Sutton offered his only visible reaction of the hearing, shaking his head from the dock.

The jury heard prosecutors allege Sutton then used the Skoda to return to the location of Ms Pike’s body, and transport her to Embankment Road to stage her suicide.

Mr Daws added that headlights were not picked up by the CCTV covering Bowcombe bridge, so suggested Sutton again used the back lanes.

CCTV footage showed Sutton’s Skoda returning to West Charleton village hall car park at approximately 4:19am, where he briefly interacted with the Land Rover while Ms Pike was believed to be in the front seat.

Sutton then drove towards Kingsbridge, crossing Bowcombe Bridge before stopping at the boatyard entrance on Embankment Road, where he turned off his vehicle's lights.

A passing driver spotted the dark car parked on the road at approximately 4:22am, with prosecutors suggesting Ms Pike’s head was covered with a blanket at the time due to a substantial head wound.

The prosecution then alleges Sutton moved his vehicle to a driveway further up Embankment Road in the Kingsbridge direction.

A cyclist on their way to work later reported to police they had seen a car parked on a driveway with headlights on, adding that they “thought it was odd”, so much so she remembered part of the number plate.

The court then heard audio recordings of Sutton’s emergency calls from the roadside, which prosecutors described as central to the cover-up.

In a WhatsApp call at 4:41am to a Coastguard colleague, Gavin Angliss, Sutton sounded "quite pumped up", claiming he had already called an ambulance and needed assistance.

However, the prosecution pointed out that Sutton had not yet called 999 or begun CPR.

Two minutes later, at 4:43am, Sutton dialled 999, claiming he was standing on a wall to get phone signal and had seen Ms Pike “dive” in front of a passing van.

On the recording, Sutton can be heard telling the operator: "She’s been trying to commit suicide for ages, I tried to stop her."

He also told operators he was performing CPR and claiming Ms Pike had taken an overdose of the painkiller amitriptyline and drunk a bottle of wine.

Sutton told the call handler that Ms Pike had suffered "serious head trauma", required a critical care air ambulance, and added that he "would stake his career on it” as a coastguard volunteer.

Call records show the call terminated at 4:48am, after Sutton claimed he needed to contact Ms Pike's father, Philip Pike.

When Sutton spoke with Mr Pike, he said: “Aimee has been hit by a car, I’m at Newbridge, get here now, I need help.”

During a second 999 call, Mr Pike arrived at the scene and assisted with CPR under Sutton’s guidance.

When the operator attempted to guide him through CPR, Sutton told the handler: “Counting is not helping, I’m fine, I’m on it, I know what I’m doing.”

The jury heard that during the break in calls, Sutton accessed his phone to delete a password-protected album containing covert sexual photographs of Ms Pike, instead of administering CPR - which the prosecution allege was “for show”.

Paramedics arrived at 5:08am, but Ms Pike could not be revived and was declared deceased at the roadside at 5:50am.

In his concluding remarks for the opening statement, Mr Daws told the jury that Sutton’s entire narrative was crafted to paint himself as a "sad but plucky hero" - a devoted partner and Coastguard volunteer valiantly trying to save a troubled woman, when in reality he was her killer setting up a calculated illusion.

While Sutton denies murder, the jury was told that his defence position accepts that he collided with Ms Pike in his Land Rover, causing her fatal chest injuries, but maintains the collision was a tragic accident.

Sutton also admits to moving her body to Embankment Road and staging the scene to look like suicide.

Ignatius Hughes KC, defending, addressed the jury to say it was “not unusual” for Ms Pike to become upset and shouty or wander off. Mr Hughes added that Sutton was looking for Ms Pike out of concern when he hit her by accident.

The prosecution maintains that the collision was intentional, driven by Sutton’s fear of losing custody of the couple's son after Ms Pike ended their five-year relationship.

The trial at Plymouth Crown Court continues.