THE man accused of murdering Basingstoke teenager Jolene Colpus has admitted lying to the police when questioned about the incident.

A jury at Winchester Crown Court has heard the prosecution allege 19-year-old Miss Colpus was stabbed by Kieron Simei with a large kitchen knife following a dispute about drugs at her flat in Winterthur Way, Basingstoke.

Simei, 22, accepts that he stabbed the teenager in the stomach, but has pleaded not guilty to murder, saying he did not intend to kill Miss Colpus, whose body lay undiscovered in her bathroom for nine days.

During cross-examination by Stuart Jones QC, Simei admitted lying to police officers when initially questioned.

The jury heard that, under interview, Simei told officers he took the knife with him to Winterthur Way, but later claimed he took it from one of his drugs runners, known as Chef, when he arrived at the address.

Asked to explain this by Mr Jones, Simei said he had sought to protect Chef. He said: "Chef was like a little brother to me. I was responsible for the injury so I had to take it."

The court was also told by Mr Jones that Simei told police Miss Colpus had demanded £2,000 and that Chef had told him she was asking for money over the telephone.

However, speaking in court, Simei said Miss Colpus had not demanded money but threatened to shoot him. He said that Chef had not told him exactly what Miss Colpus was demanding and denied he had arrived at Winterthur Way in an angry state of mind.

When Mr Jones asked him to explain these inconsistencies, Simei repeatedly claimed he did not know why he had "exaggerated" the story when he spoke to the police, saying: "I was not thinking properly" and "my head was all over the place."

Summing up the case for the prosecution, Mr Jones told the jury that it was clear they were not going to hear the real truth from Simei. He also claimed that the defendant lied to the court in order to cover up the "guilty secret of what he had in his mind" on the night of the murder.

The prosecutor said: "The defendant's claim that Chef had it (the knife) is completely nonsensical."

He claimed Simei had taken it with him when he got the call from Chef and met with him to sort out whatever grievance they had with Jolene.

He told the jury they should put an end to the "charade" and find Simei guilty of murder.

But in summing up the case for the defence, Nigel Pascoe QC told the jury that before they convicted him for murder, they needed to be sure that his client intended seriously to harm Miss Colpus.

He said that the 10 second delay between Miss Colpus opening the door and being stabbed brought this into question.

"If he intended to do that young woman great harm, why does he not react as soon as she opens the door rather than waiting 10 seconds?" he asked.

He added that the fact Simei only stabbed Miss Colpus once, had only met her on the day in question and stayed in Basingstoke after the incident, also added weight to the claim that he did not intend to cause serious injury.

Simei entered a guilty plea to a charge of manslaughter, but the jury has been told the prosecution has rejected it.

The trial continues.