A MAN accused of murdering a pensioner in his own home claimed he only wanted to borrow his car in order to steal £20,000 of cannabis.

Leighton Snook, 28, denies murdering 83-year-old Donald Ralph in his Aldham home in December last year.

During a trial at Ipswich Crown Court, Snook told a jury he was only ever a “low level” criminal, “involved in scams”.

Snook, of no fixed address, said he would regularly rob drug dealers, telling the court drug dealing is rife in Colchester.

He said: “There is an awful lot of drugs stuff going on in Colchester, an awful lot.”

A teenager, from Leicester, who can’t be named for legal reasons, is jointly charged with murdering Mr Ralph.

Read more: Strangled Donald Ralph 'had no enemies'

Snook said he took the teen “under his wing”, and the pair intended to raid an outhouse stocked with 90 ounces of cannabis.

He told the jury he needed to borrow Mr Ralph’s car to complete the task.

Snook said they would have got “probably £20,000” for selling the stolen cannabis.

He added: “We would have got a flat and probably started selling drugs, I would have stopped robbing drug dealers because, not being funny, I was getting sick of it and it was not long before I would have been hurt by one of them obviously.”

But the prosecution says Snook, armed with knowledge of his relative and family friend Mr Ralph, wanted to steal guns from the pensioner to sell on for cash.

The jury was told Snook was related to Mr Ralph “by stepmarriage”, and that Mr Ralph had talked of receiving a call from Snook requesting money to clear a £6,000 to £8,000 drug debt.

The court heard Snook and the teenager booked a taxi with a Colchester firm on the afternoon of December 28 last year.

Read more: Donald Ralph killed during burglary, court told

The prosecution say CCTV footage shows Snook and the teenager getting into a cab in Mersea Road, Colchester, and walking along Halstead Road, Eight Ash Green, in the direction of Mr Ralph’s house.

The jury was told Mr Ralph was beaten and then strangled to death.

Snook, of no fixed address, denies murder, burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.

His teenage co-defendant denies murder and theft of a motor vehicle, but has admitted one charge of burglary.

The trial continues.