Stepfather denies sex claim

Mike Baldwin pretended that his stepdaughter Jenna was still alive

Mike Baldwin - who is accused of murdering his stepdaughter and burying her in a shallow grave - has denied having any sexual relationship with the teenager.

Mr Baldwin, 36, told Cardiff Crown Court that he and 15-year-old Jenna Baldwin "couldn't stand each other".

The security guard from Abersychan near Pontypool, denies murder - claiming Jenna accidentally fell down the stairs as the pair argued.

He admits deliberately hitting Jenna on the day she died but that her subsequent fall down the stairs was accidental.

Under cross-examination on Tuesday, he said he swung out at Jenna after she punched him in the back of the neck.

But the prosecution allege that could not have happened because the area at the top of the landing was too narrow.

David Aubrey QC said the defendant would have hit the wall.

Earlier in the trial, a prosecution witness who had shared a cell with Mr Baldwin told the jury that the defendant had confessed having an affair with Jenna.

Denying this, Mr Baldwin said: "You're joking, aren't you? We couldn't stand each other," he said.

"She couldn't stand me and I couldn't stand her.

Mike Baldwin denies murdering his step-daughter

"She didn't like doing what she was told - she wouldn't do anything."

Mr Baldwin claims she died in a row on the 10 September last year, and he panicked and buried her body at a nearby beauty spot.

However, this date has been questioned by the prosecution, who claim she died days earlier.

Jenna was last seen alive on 5 September, and Mr Baldwin bought a shovel on 6 September. He claims he bought it to replace a fence at the house the family were intending to buy.

Her body was found in a shallow grave about 12 weeks later.

'Sicko'

During the trial, the jury has heard how Mr Baldwin made a series of telephone calls and sent text messages purporting to be from Jenna to family members to make them believe she had simply run away and was still alive.

But on Tuesday, the court heard that during a police interview, Mr Baldwin had denied sending the messages saying they were coming from "some sicko messing about".

"Are you saying I'm a sicko or something? Do you think I would do that to my wife and kids?," he is accused of saying in a police statement.

Prosecuting counsel David Aubrey QC said he would use "any oath to get himself out of trouble".

"That is what you were doing in these interviews with police and that is what you are doing in your evidence to this jury."

The case continues.