A murder suspect denied in court that injuries to his face were the frantic scratches of the woman he allegedly strangled.

Ian Jarvis, 37, of Second Avenue, Canvey, said he sustained the damage while squeezing through a fence.

The section of fencing was carried into Chelmsford Crown Court, where he tried to show the jury exactly how he got through it.

However, when he failed and got stuck, he told the court: "I've obviously got a bit fatter."

Jarvis denies murdering Ann Marie Couldridge, 28, of Hilton Road, Canvey, and setting fire to her flat in May last year.

Ann was the girlfriend of Jarvis's brother, Eric, who was serving a jail sentence in Chelmsford at the time.

Jarvis told the court he and Ann planned to visit Eric together but Jarvis was refused entry at the gates because he did not have the necessary identification.

He spent the afternoon at a pub while Ann was allowed in to see Eric. When Ann and Jarvis returned to Canvey, they went straight to the Silver Jubilee pub where Jarvis got drunk celebrating a soccer cup final and stayed in the pub till closing time.

Afterwards he said he went through the hole in the fence to reach his car, but couldn't find his keys, so he went to Ann's house nearby to look for them.

Ann offered him "a line of Charlie" - cocaine - which he took in the bedroom, he said.

He left after giving Ann "a cuddle", which he clarified to mean just a friendly hug.

He denied he "fancied" her or that they had any sexual involvement.

Then he returned to his car, via the gap in the fence where he claimed his face got scratched, and slept on the back seat for the night.

He was woken by Julie's screams about a fire at Ann's house and a body being found. It was Ann's.

Jarvis claimed police must have misheard when they said he shouted: "She's my girlfriend."

The case continues.

Published Friday November 1, 2002

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