A HUSBAND shot his estranged wife, his mother-in-law and the family dog with a stolen rifle in an execution-style killing, a court has been told.

Craig Savage, 35, is accused of shooting Michelle Poskitt and her mum Heather Whitbread 13 times, a month after breaking up with his wife just before Valentine's Day.

Lewes Crown Court heard how Savage allegedly then turned the .22 calibre rifle on pet dog Zeus, before trying to shoot a policeman when the gun jammed at the seaside home in St Leonard-on-Sea, East Sussex.

The jury heard Ms Savage's seven-month-pregnant younger sister Raven Whitbread and her grandmother Patricia Groves cowered in the semi-detached home during the killings in a bitterly cold night in March this year.

Prosecutor Ben Aina QC told the court: "He carried out the shooting because he had been rejected by his wife, Michelle Savage.

"They had separated about a month before the shooting and he was desperate for a reconciliation.

"One of the entry wounds on each woman was accompanied by a muzzle mark. This indicates that the firearm was pressed fairly close to each woman and discharged in an execution-type manner."

Savage, 35, denies two counts of murder and one of possession of the firearm and its ammunition but has admitted robbing the rifle from a firing range in the town on March 16.

He has claimed the killings were a "complete accident" after he tripped and the gun fired during a "struggle".

Lewes Crown Court heard Savage had allegedly begged his wife to take him back a week before the killings.

Mr Aina told the court: "He begged her in text messages, he threatened her with revenge porn, he even poured paint on the family car and slashed their car tyres on her birthday which was about a week before the shooting.

"But all of this was to no avail, Michelle refused to reconcile and so it's the prosecution's case that Craig Savage planned the execution of his wife and carried it out on the evening of Friday the 16th of March of this year."

Text messages were read out to the court, with Savage allegedly messaging Michelle and saying: "For me sex was the best and biggest part of being with you.

"I want every last little piece, every last sock and stocking - the fire will be satisfying."

Savage is also claimed to have messaged her saying: "If all you say is true then that means I'm a psycho bunny killer who eats kids for fun. "All I want is to see you one last time, saying thank you for the good times and not be left confused.

"One part of my brain says, 'she loves you and doesn't want to make it hard for herself to see you' and one part says, 'she hates you and wants to see me suffer and burn'."

But his alleged victim replied: "I can't make it any clearer you are trying to control every last interaction and decision whether you release or not. "We already said our goodbye and I want to leave it at that.

"I'm done with this conversation, I'm busy packing your stuff, no more, just f***ing stop."

Savage wore a dark blazer and white shirt with his top button undone and appeared nervous and shuffled his feet with his head partly bowed in the dock as his three-week trial started today.

The court was told Savage had stolen the rifle from Target Sport 1066 store's firing range.

Mr Aina QC: "You will hear that he went to a firing range, fired bullets at the firing range, then turned a rifle on a member of staff at the firing range and walked out of the firing range with the rifle which was used in the killings.

"Shortly after the shooting of his estranged wife and mother-in-law, police officers tried to apprehend Mr Savage and during that process he pointed his stolen rifle to a police officer and it's the prosecution's case that he attempted to pull the rifle trigger at the police officer.

"However fortunately the rifle did not shoot any bullets at this stage because the firing mechanism had become jammed."

Savage, of no fixed abode, denies murder, claiming the killings were a "complete accident" and he only wanted to kidnap Michelle Savage and watch him carry out a "cop-assisted suicide".

No friends or family of the defendant and the alleged victims were sat in the public gallery today.

The trial continues.