A volunteer coastguard faked the suicide of his live-in partner after killing her and then contriving a road collision, a court heard. Rowan Sutton is accused of running down Aimee Pike with his Land Rover on a dark country road and then transporting her body, a jury was told.
Sutton allegedly filmed bakery van to stage suicide
The jury heard that he then took her to a main road, placed her body on a low wall and waited for a van to pass the spot so that he could fake her suicide at 4am. Prosecutor James Dawes KC said Sutton filmed the passing bakery van and then placed her body on the road and filmed the scene shouting at the van driver. He also had a fake conversation with Aimee, saying 'don't do it, stay there' before shouting 'Aimee' as the van passed by.
Evidence of staged scene
Two plasters with her DNA on them were found near the scene, and her hair had vegetation in it – but her body was further up the road. The court heard Sutton made it look 'like a car crash'.
Motive: fear of losing access to son
The jury heard that Sutton and Aimee were splitting up after five years together, but Sutton feared he would lose access to their son. Prosecutor James Dawes KC told the jury that 31-year-old Sutton then spread entirely false rumours that 22-year-old Aimee was suicidal. He said Sutton told her family members and his coastguard colleagues that she was erratic, suffering from her mental health and suicidal.
Mr Dawes said: 'That's because he planned to fake her suicide but in fact killed her and made it look like suicide. Around this time the defendant began to plan a way in which he could continue to have exclusive access to his son, and that meant getting rid of Aimee.'
Controlling and coercive behaviour
Plymouth Crown Court heard that after they split, they still lived together in their flat in West Charleton Court in the village of West Charleton near Kingsbridge, Devon. The jury was told Sutton was prone to 'bouts of intense anger' and was controlling and coercive towards Aimee. The court heard that they had split up four weeks before she died, but still lived in the same flat.
The jury also heard that three weeks before she died and a week after they split up, Sutton sexually assaulted Aimee as she slept naked in bed, and he filmed the attack. Mum of one Aimee also stayed in Sutton's caravan in the nearby village of Loddisell, and he installed a secret camera in a clock to record her – and the caravan was isolated with no neighbours or water.
Events leading to the murder
Aimee died in the small hours of April 23, 2025, after originally planning to spend the night alone away from him, and he returned to their flat. When he returned, he parked in a village hall car park out of sight of a camera, said Mr Dawes. He stayed at home, but in his 'sneaky manoeuvres' in the next two and a half hours, said Mr Dawes, he watched some of the secret footage and sent himself a text under a strange name with a long text as if it was coming from someone else, saying Aimee has been cheating on him.
Sutton avoided cameras and left phone at home
The Crown said that when the street lights went out, Sutton left his flat, got into his parked Land Rover and drove out towards the caravan, taking a route to avoid any cameras. He left his phone at home to give the impression that he had not gone out and removed a dash cam from his Land Rover.
Mr Dawes said: 'He went there not to check on Aimee but to murder her. The injuries to Aimee would suggest he ran her down in that Land Rover in the darkness in the countryside somewhere. There were no witnesses to this killing.'
Trial continues
Sutton denies murdering Aimee and sexually assaulting her three weeks earlier. On Wednesday, the jury will visit the scene with the judge and legal teams. The trial continues.
