Accused 'would not lose temper'

Kirsty Wilson's body was set alight with petrol, the court has heard

A man accused of murdering his partner after he found out that she planned to leave him told the Old Bailey he was not the kind of man to lose his temper.

Alan Jermey, 41, denies strangling 34-year-old Kirsty Wilson and setting fire to her body at their home in Woking in August last year.

He told the court he kept his calm when he challenged her about a text message from her lover more than a year before.

The jury previously heard the Mercedes executive had been having an affair.

Mr Jermey said he accepted her explanation that the text from her Simon Goodard, her boss at the Mercedes dealership in Hampshire, was "flirtatious fun".

'Somebody I loved'

He said: "I am not a person to lose my temper at all, I am quite a steady, pragmatic person.

"I don't see any point in raising my voice or shouting or screaming at people. I think if you lose your temper your emotions get hold of you and you lose all rationale."

Mr Jermey said he confronted her when he found a message on her phone from Mr Goddard that said: "I wish I was there with you now."

He said she was shocked and had a "good cry" but the next day told him it was "just some flirtatious fun".

Mr Jermey said: "I wasn't that greatly concerned. I felt we had a trusting relationship. The motor trade is very much a male business and to have a very attractive female working in the business you have got to have trust.

"Salesmen are always being flirtatious. I had to have trust in Kirsty that she was faithful to me.

"Kirsty was somebody I loved, we had two children together. I had no reason to question her at that time."

He said they went on holiday to Chicago in June 2007 after the issue with the text message and were "very close".

The jury has been told Miss Wilson told Mr Jermey the following year she had been having an affair with Mr Goddard, was leaving him and that the house in Greenmeads was about to be put on the market.

The trial continues.