Former deputy headteacher Sion Jenkins denied yesterday that he misled emergency services to back his claim that a mystery intruder murdered his foster daughter at their home.

Jenkins allegedly told the operator during a 999 call that he had been out for between half to three-quarters of an hour before returning to find 13-year-old Billie-Jo dead by the patio windows she was painting.

The court heard he had left their house in Hastings for about a 10-minute period.

Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting, suggested Jenkins had given a longer period "so you could then say someone else had come in and done it".

Jenkins replied: "No. That is simply not the truth."

He said the 999 call had been hard "with all the mayhem and chaos around. When I spoke, I made mistakes. Those times were wrong, but at the time it did not seem important."

Mr Hilliard accused him of lying to the court and maintained that Jenkins had murdered Billie-Jo. Jenkins denied lying and told the jury: "I did not murder Billie."

Mr Hilliard said: "There was no mystery intruder."

Jenkins repeated: "I did not murder Billie."

He explained that he had delayed calling an ambulance after discovering Billie-Jo lying on her side surrounded by blood so he could have a proper look at her to answer the operator's questions.

He said: "I actually could not believe what was happening and found it very difficult to believe that I had entered such a nightmare. I needed to look at her properly.

"The shock of seeing her in that position and so much blood around her - I could not take in what I had seen. Before ringing the ambulance, I wanted to go back to her and have a proper look at her."

As he was pulling her over, there had been a loud, horrible squelching gutteral sound.

He said: "It made me recoil. I wanted to look at Billie but part of me did not want to look. When I first saw her I thought it was an accident but I did not know what it was. I did not think there was something suspicious. I did not believe at that time that someone had attacked Billie.

"It was not until someone from the police said this was a suspicious death that it finally dawned on me it was not an accident and something was wrong."

Billie-Jo died from severe head injuries after being hit at least five times with an 18-inch iron tent peg.

Jenkins said that words used in his original witness statement to police after Billie-Jo's death had been twisted and used against him falsely.

He said: "I was told that if the police were going to catch the killer they would need my witness statement. So I pushed myself and told them every single detail.

"Then they came and proceeded to make a caricature of what I said and twisted it.

"I told the police I was confused but I was told they needed my witness statement. That witness statement was the best I could do then.

"I told the police I was having difficulty. I pushed myself to provide every bit of minutiae.

"Now it is down and on those sheets - yes I think words have been used against me and falsely."

Jenkins, 47, of Aberystwyth, mid Wales, denies murder.