Fire murder trial jury sent home

The 36-year-old was found dead at her home in Tredworth

A jury hearing the case of a man accused of killing his girlfriend and setting fire to her house has gone home until Tuesday.

Matthew Bayle, 24, of Leonard Road, Tredworth, Gloucester, denies strangling Louise Hall, 36, at Nelson Street, Gloucester, on 17 August 2007.

Post-mortem tests showed she had been killed before the fire started and had had sex with Mr Bayle.

Mr Justice Royce is hearing the case at Bristol Crown Court.

Previously Mr Bayle had told the jury he had no recollection of what happened after having sex with Miss Hall and waking up in hospital

It is alleged that he took an overdose of paracetamol before setting fire to the house, but told the court he denied he had ever tried to take his own life.

When asked by the prosecution if Miss Hall could have suffered her injuries during sex Mr Bayle said he could not recall whether he had been "rigorous", but told the jury that he had not done anything that could have hurt her.

Mr Bayle escaped naked from the fire through the ground floor bedroom window suffering 15% burns, and was taken by air ambulance to a specialist burns unit at Swansea hospital.