A teenager broke down today as he recalled how he found an elderly cleric dead.

Christopher Hunnisett, 18, sobbed as he told how he walked in to find the Reverend Ronald Glazebrook, 81, dead in his bath.

He told Lewes Crown Court this morning he did not know how Mr Glazebrook came to die in the flat they shared in Dane Road, St Leonards.

Hunnisett said he woke to a knock on the door at about 10.30am on Saturday, April 28 last year. The caller was a man who had arrived for an interview with the cleric, who had advertised for a home help.

After telling him to come back another time, Hunnisett, dressed only in his boxer shorts, walked into the bathroom.

Sobbing uncontrollably, he said: "The Reverend was underneath the water in the bath. His head was under the water and his feet were up the end by the taps. I went up to him and put my hand under his neck.

"I tried to lift his head from the water and said 'Ronald, wake up'. I checked his breathing but there was nothing so I tried mouth-to-mouth on him. I then pulled the plug out of the bath to drain the water."

Hunnisett, who was 17 at the time, said he panicked and ran.

He said: "I felt dizzy and wasn't sure what to do. I was supposed to call an ambulance but I didn't because I thought it was my fault he was dead."

Hunnisett said he went back to the flat, got changed and caught the train from Warrior Square station in St Leonards to Hampden Park, Eastbourne, to meet his friend, Jason Groves.

Hunnisett denies murder. He and Groves admit conspiring to prevent the lawful burial of Mr Glazebrook's body.

The case continues.