Murder accused ‘disposed of Albanian drug farm in oil barrel’, court told

The prosecution previously alleged Mark Brown had used the homemade incinerators to dispose of Leah Ware’s body.

Mark Brown is accused of murdering Alexandra Morgan and Leah Ware (above) six months apart in 2021 (Sussex Police/PA) (PA Media)

A man accused of murdering two women said he disposed of an “Albanian drug farm” in a homemade incinerator, a court has heard.

Mark Brown, 41, of Squirrel Close in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, is accused of murdering Alexandra Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware, 33, six months apart in 2021.

Earlier during the trial at Hove Crown Court, prosecution solicitor Duncan Atkinson KC shared a message Brown had sent to an old school friend, Elizabeth Howard, on June 13 2022.

The message was sent just over a month after the prosecution allege he killed Ms Ware on May 8.

The message read: “I’m going to be very careful how I word this – it happened again, not very long ago when disposing of something.

“It’s a very unpleasant thing to do – an old oil drum, five litres of diesel, and hey presto, there’s not very much left.

“It gets hot, very hot, it glows almost white.

“The things I have done weigh heavily on my heart, on my head and my soul. A psychopath with a conscience – it’s a joke really.”

The remains of Ms Morgan were found in an oil drum which Brown had disposed of in a skip at a building site in Sevenoaks, Kent where he was working at the time.

While questioned by defence solicitor Ian Henderson on Friday afternoon, Brown said his message referred to disposing of an “Albanian drug farm”.

He said: “It was a lot of stuff that came from an Albanian cannabis factory, I got rid of quite a lot of drugs, probably ketamine, paperwork, passports, and a weird currency I didn’t recognise.

“This was the second or third week of January 2021. I heard word that the Albanians were looking for me, I heard they were poking around so I got rid of everything they left in their factory in a hurry.”

Brown also denied references to events “weigh heavily on my heart, on my head and my soul” had any relevance to Ms Ware, and he was instead referencing events from 20 years ago.

Brown denies murdering both Ms Ware and Ms Morgan.

The trial continues.