A LODGER who strangled his landlady and lived with her rotting corpse for a month told his girlfriend he was "going down to the fires with old Lucifer", a court heard.

Kristian Smith allegedly murdered 52-year-old Antoinette Donegan at her one-bedroom council flat in Battersea, South West London, last February.

The 42-year-old then pushed her clothes against the door to hide the stench and continued to live in the flat while stealing her benefits, it was said.

Jurors at the Old Bailey heard today how Smith sent girlfriend Caroline French a string of "rambling" messages in the weeks before her body was found.

One read: "I've got a few weeks left. Don't wanna go down to the fires with old Lucifer without you sending me off."

Smith also allegedly text the support worker saying he had done something "really bad" and needed to leave the country.

Jurors were told one message said Smith "felt like he was going to hurt someone" – with the lodger allegedly sending a similar text two days before Antoinette vanished.

'ACTED OUT OF PANIC'

The court heard after he was arrested, Smith told cops his landlady had turned violent after a drugs binge and tried to stab him with a syringe.

He claimed he hit Antoinette with a mug in self-defence – with the cup later found shattered next to the body surrounded by blood-stained furniture.

Smith then told police he came back to find Antoinette dead on the floor and "acted out of panic", it was said.

Jurors were told Antoinette and Smith went to the same recovery centre for drug addiction.

BLOODBATH

She was discovered just over a month after she was last seen on February 1 by police concerned for her welfare, the Old Bailey heard.

Cops climbed through the window of the flat and were hit with a strong odour coming from the bedroom.

They discovered Antoinette slumped in the corner of the room and a pile of clothes shoved in front of the door outside as a makeshift "draft excluder", it was said.

She had a jumper tied around her neck – suggesting she had been strangled – and blood had pooled around her head.

'BEATEN UP SEVERELY'

Jurors heard within minutes of benefits being paid into her account, Smith withdrew hundreds of pounds using her bank card.

He also allegedly tried to sell her jewellery to fund his drug habit.

Louis Mably QC, prosecuting, said it was difficult to know exactly how Antoinette had died because of the state of decomposition.

He added: "Police found a smashed coffee cup and the injuries to her scalp were consistent with having been smashed over the head with a weapon of that kind.

"The medical evidence suggests she was beaten up severely which led her to collapse and die.

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"It must have been the defendant who did this. He was her lodger, he concealed what he had done, he stole her money and he took her telephone and her jewellery."

Smith denies murder between January 31 and March 7 last year.

The trial continues.

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