Woman 'shot dead by obsessive ex-fiance

A talented riding instructor was shot through the head by her ex-fiance after a campaign of intimidation in which he threatened to break her legs and gouge out her eyes, a court heard today.

Mark Dyche, 36, ambushed Tania Moore, 26, on a country lane in Derbyshire and followed her several miles before crashing into her car and killing her, a jury was told.

The court heard that he smashed the driver's window and shot Miss Moore at point blank range in the face after spending months watching her, threatening her and stealing from her.

Dyche, of Marston Montgomery in Derbyshire, denies murder and conspiracy to rob his former girlfriend. Peter Joyce QC, prosecuting, told a jury at Nottingham Crown Court that the murder was the end of a long campaign of obsession by Dyche.

He said: "He had known Tania Moore for quite some time. He had gone out with Tania, he had got engaged to Tania, he had bought Tania gifts and then they broke up.

"Then the campaign started - possessive, jealous and obsessive. The murder was the finishing point. The starting point was that he used to watch her, he would threaten her, he would steal things from her. Then he had her robbed. He approached others to rob her. He wanted her hurting. He wanted her legs breaking. He wanted her eyes gouging out. He wanted to be in control."

Mr Joyce said Dyche and another man, Colin Colley, dressed in paper suits on 29 March last year and waited in a country lane until Miss Moore finished a riding lesson.

They followed her to Long Lane in Longford, less than a mile from her home, where Dyche drove her off the road, the court heard. He then allegedly got out of his car, smashed a window in Miss Moore's and fired the weapon.

Mr Joyce added: "This was no chance shooting, no chance killing. He waited until she drove by and followed her.

"Having disabled her car, Mr Dyche then got out and shot her, having broken her driver's side window."

The jury was told Colley has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm.

The court heard that Dyche paid a group of men to rob and assault Miss Moore in June

2003. He borrowed ?2,000 from his new girlfriend, Helen Smith, and told the men he wanted them to steal a mobile phone and a watch that he had given Miss Moore as a gift.

Dyche claims that Colley shot the young horsewoman to his surprise after he told him to just frighten or alarm her.

The case continues.

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