A man accused of murder, who used to work at a Whitchurch firm, spoke openly about the killing of a man who was thought have robbed the drugs operation he was involved in, a court heard.

Corin Barlow is alleged to have told work colleagues about the shooting of Gurinderjit Rai, 41, who was found dead in a Ford Fiesta in Shepherds Farm Lane in Corhampton, near Bishop's Waltham, by two horse riders on July 13, 2019.

The trial at Winchester Crown Court today (Thursday) heard from Morgan Tarrant, who met Barlow while working at the building firm P J Roper, based in Whitchurch, near Basingstoke.

Giving evidence, Tarrant said that Barlow spoke to his work colleagues and even contractors about co-defendant Aston Hannis, who he “idolises” and their drug operation.

“He told everybody that worked for the company we worked for. He said that they had been robbed of £70,000, I think around £16,000 of that was cash and the rest was drugs.

“There was many different people that they believed to be responsible.”

And on July 15 Barlow is said to have travelled to where Tarrant was living and told him “they have done it, have you heard, they have killed him”.

In cross-examination, Barlow’s barrister James Newton-Price QC said Tarrant had said that Barlow “said yes there had been a shooting. G Man is dead, I can’t get hold of Aston.

“Mr Barlow was quite excited about the drama of it. He carried on talking quite openly at work.”

And in court he said: “Telling them about his best mate, the murderer.”

But, Tarrant told the court that Barlow was also referred to as the "king of bullshit" and that he is "a man who likes to give the impression that he is more important than he is".

Following the murder Barlow is said to have become “stressed and agitated” as he looked for the gun.

Tarrant said: “He couldn’t get in contact with Aston. [He was] trying to work out where the gun was.

“He then disappeared for I would say three hours. When he returned he looked quite stressed and agitated and he said about me holding something for him for two weeks.”

The court was told that Barlow offered Tarrant £4,500 to look after an item but did not explain what it was.

Mr Newton-Price said: “From that moment he told you ‘I am going to give you £4,500’ do you know what you were going to hide?”

Mr Tarrant replied: “I wasn’t sure I was acting out of impulse.”

Tarrant told the jury that later that day the pair went to Barlow’s car, which was parked near Bere Mill, where they had been working, and he was shown the gun in the boot.

He told the court that Barlow took him to his car and in the boot was a bag, Tarrant said: “At that point it was becoming quite obvious to me that it was the weapon that I had heard of that he was previously looking for.”

Tarrant said that he then hid the gun under some trestles close to the site, before returning and moving the weapon to a hut on Harroway, near Whitchurch.

“He (Barlow) was always asking where it was, what I had done with it, if people had been with me,” he said.

After two weeks the gun had not been collected by Hannis’ dad Mark and Tarrant said he was “told it would be a little while longer”, in the weeks following Tarrant was told by Barlow that he had to get rid of the weapon.

“I told him that it was going to cut it up and separate it into small bits. I then told him that is what I did.”

The court was previously told that Tarrant hid the gun and a cartridge in a wooded area of Whitchurch, instead of cutting it up. He later showed the police where the items were hidden.

He said today: “I am involved at the moment but say if I took that step, that’s me stepping into that world. I am not part of that world. I am not like these people.”

Hannis, 29, of Leah Gardens, Eastleigh; Statham, 30, of Crescent Close, Oliver's Battery; Barlow, 41, from Horley, Surrey; and Paul White, 27, of Dyson Drive, Abbotts Barton, all deny murder.

Phillip Hodan, 43, of Longwood Dean Lane, Owslebury, denies participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group.

The trial continues.