´óÏó´«Ã½

A man accused of murdering a mother of two has said it "never" bothered him to be sleeping next to her dead body.

Charlotte Teeling was found in Richard Bailey's flat in Birmingham in March a week after she was reported missing.

Mr Bailey, 44, told Birmingham Crown Court having her body in his bed changed "nothing" about his routine.

He denies murder and claims Ms Teeling, 33, died accidentally during "rough sex" but he did not report her death because he "wanted freedom".

"I knew it would lead me straight to prison," Mr Bailey said when asked why he never called 999 after Ms Teeling's death.

"It didn't dawn on me that it was accidental," he said.

Ms Teeling, who had lived on the Isle of Wight before moving to a women's refuge in Worcester, met Mr Bailey for the first time at 06:14 GMT on 23 February before the couple returned to his flat in Kingstanding.

Her naked body was discovered in Mr Bailey's bed on 2 March, with pornography scattered around.

A post-mortem examination found Ms Teeling died as a result of forceful compression of her neck.

Mr Bailey claimed she had asked him to choke her.

"I would say that did not help," he replied, after being asked if his actions contributed to her death.

Mr Bailey said the sex was interrupted by a housing support worker carrying out a tenancy check.

After speaking to her through a crack in the door, he noticed Ms Teeling was "motionless" in his bed.

"I was thinking of getting rid of the body," he said, "but then I was thinking, it was going to make it worse."

He denies touching her body, but said he looked at the "discolouration" of her arm.

The trial continues.