A man accused of murdering a mother told a court the last time he saw her she was singing and joking.

Stephen Johnstone, 26, and his friend Alex Gallacher, 33, are alleged to have battered Charmaine Dempsey, 48, to death at her home in Ivory Walk, Bewbush, Crawley.

They have denied murder.

The prosecution alleges Ms Dempsey, an alcoholic, was killed on November 27 last year after she was blamed when social services took her friend Tracey Gazzard's three children into care because Ms Dempsey allegedly hit one of them while babysitting.

Gazzard, 29, Gallacher's girlfriend at the time, admitted a charge of manslaughter at an earlier hearing on the grounds she assaulted the dead woman but did not intend to kill her.

Johnstone, a former grass cutter for Crawley Council, told Lewes Crown Court he last saw Ms Dempsey when he went to her flat on November 28 with Gallacher and Gazzard.

He said all four had been drinking, singing and joking.

Johnstone, who described himself as an alcoholic, said they left when Ms Dempsey started dozing because she was "steaming drunk".

He said: "There were no disagreements. Apart from being drunk she was fine."

During cross-examination by Michael Chambers QC, prosecuting, he told the court neither Gallacher nor himself was involved in the dispute over Gazzard's children.

He said Gazzard blamed Ms Dempsey but Gallacher was not upset. Johnstone said: "They were not his children."

When asked if he blamed Ms Dempsey, he replied: "It is nothing to do with me."

The court has heard Ms Dempsey's body was found by her daughter on December 29.

A post-mortem examination revealed she died from multiple injuries. Police believe she was hit, kicked and stamped on and attacked with a weapon, probably a broken chair leg.

The two men and Gazzard were living in Neptune Close, Crawley, at the time of the alleged murder.

The trial continues.