Teenager stabbed Paul Jefferies 'after sex with him'

A teenager accused of murdering a man he met via a gay dating app said he stabbed him because he wanted to escape after a sexual encounter.

Ben Bamford, 18, said he had gone to Paul Jefferies' Sussex home to have sex with him in the hope of getting money to pay off debts.

But he told Lewes Crown Court he had tried to leave, only to find the 52-year-old's front door locked.

Mr Bamford, of Crowborough, East Sussex, denies murder.

The prosecution told the court earlier in the trial that Mr Bamford, who was 17 when he killed government tax adviser Mr Jefferies in February, had set out to rob him to pay off drugs debts of about £400.

The teenager told defence counsel Alan Kent QC: "I needed to gather as much money as I could to pay off this debt."

Text exchanges between Mr Bamford and a man called Glenn were read to the court which suggested the teen felt threatened.

One to Mr Bamford on the day of the killing read: "I'm not happy. On my boy's life I will see you today."

Later, after Glenn told him he was treating him "like a mug", Mr Bamford replied: "I will get it to you. Don't worry."

Mr Jefferies' battered body was discovered at his home in Coggins Mill Lane, Mayfield, East Sussex, on 25 February, two days after the attack.

He had suffered more than 40 injuries, including a slashed throat and partially severed thumb.

Mr Bamford told the court he wanted to get away after Mr Jefferies began having sex with him.

He said: "I ended up taking a knife. It was on the kitchen side."

He admitted stabbing Mr Jefferies as he lay naked on his bed and acknowledged there had been no threat of violence towards him.

Asked why, he replied: "I don't know."

The trial continues.