Murder accused called 'fantasist'

Gary Chester-Nash said he was drunk at the time of the murder

A man on trial for murdering a 59-year-old Cornish cleaner has been branded a "fantasist" for claiming an illegal immigrant killed her.

The jury at Truro Crown Court heard the prosecution claim Gary Chester-Nash, 28, of no fixed abode, had told a "string of lies" during the trial.

Mr Chester-Nash has pleaded not guilty to murdering Jean Bowditch, who was stabbed nine times.

He told the court on Wednesday that a foreign squatter had killed her.

Mr Chester-Nash said a man named as "Angel" killed Mrs Bowditch while the two were on a burgling spree on 12 October last year.

He claimed the man stabbed her to death while he was trying to burgle a bungalow next door to the one Mrs Bowditch was cleaning in Carbis Bay.

When asked by the prosecution why he had asked "Angel" to accompany him on the burglary, the defendant said he was drunk, and needed somebody to carry the goods.

The trial continues.