As the jury in the Matthew Baggott murder trial returns a guilty verdict the Gazette looks at the background to the case.

Daniel de Costa will be sentenced on Wednesday but friends and family of Mr Baggott are already suffering a life sentence.

The death of Matthew Baggott focused attention on the group of people who regularly congregate in St John’s Churchyard, known colloquially as the Boneyard.

They are a mixture of people with mental health problems, problems of drug and alcohol abuse and homeless people. Far from being outcasts, many have family in the town and are well-liked and well regarded.

Such a one was Matthew Baggott, who was born in Colchester, Essex, where his father, Brian Baggott, was serving in the Army.

The family moved to Bishops Cannings when Mr Baggott was a child and he and his brother, Brian Talbot, had an idyllic childhood, playing in their new rural surroundings.

Mr Talbot said he and his brother, whom he called Miffer, were joined at the hip. He said: “We were out first thing in the morning until last thing at night, scrumping for apples, picking strawberries, getting into the usual rough and tumble boys get up to.

“We used to fight and argue about everything, but he was always there for me when I needed him.”

Both were educated at Bishops Cannings Primary School and Devizes School. But while Mr Talbot embarked on a military career, Mr Baggott’s unpredictable nature was already coming to the fore.

Mr Talbot said: “He did what he wanted to do. He was very much a free spirit. If he didn’t think sitting exams was the thing for him, he wouldn’t sit them.

“He was a very clever teenager, but very frustrating in the choices he made. But he stuck by his choices and he was happy with them, even if it meant living in a tent.”

Despite being footloose and fancy free, Mr Baggott had a stable seven-year relationship with Sarah Smith with whom he had a son, James, or Jimbo.

Mr Talbot said: “He was wonderful with James. He was a proper dad and was so delighted by James’s prowess at football.”

According to Mr Talbot, there were two Matthew Baggotts. There was the outgoing, friendly person who would talk to anyone. But there was another, more sensitive man who only his nearest and dearest would see.

Mr Talbot said: “He would only open up to close family. He didn’t want to show that soft, caring side generally. But it was there all right.”

Mr Talbot and Mr Baggott lost their mother, Susan, to cancer not long before Mr Baggott’s death. Mr Baggott took it very hard and his depression led to an increased dependence on alcohol.

A blood test at Great Western Hospital after he was stabbed found a blood/alcohol level more than five times the legal limit for driving.