A train guard accused of murdering a wealthy pensioner on board his boat was branded a liar and a killer in court.

David MacBride, 45, has denied killing retired businessman Robert Saint, 70, on his luxury motor cruiser, The Sundowner, in September last year.

MacBride, of Bramber Close, Bognor, is accused of beating Mr Saint to death and throwing his body overboard after becoming obsessed with the 42ft motor cruiser and pretending he had the money to buy it.

MacBride has told the jury, during a trial at Lewes Crown Court, Mr Saint was fatally injured when he accidentally fell and banged his head in the engine room.

He says he panicked and threw Mr Saint's body into the sea because he feared no one would believe he was not to blame.

During cross-examination by prosecutor Camden Pratt, MacBride was accused of manufacturing his defence and telling a pack of lies.

Mr Pratt said to him: "You are a liar and a killer of a decent man for whom you have shown no remorse from the moment you killed him to today."

MacBride replied: "That is a load of rubbish."

The jury has heard how Mr Saint, of Horsham Road, Steyning, went missing after arranging to meet MacBride at The Sundowner, moored at Birdham Pool marina, near Chichester. MacBride had agreed to buy the boat for £119,000.

Mr Saint's body was washed up on a beach on the Isle of Wight two weeks later.

The prosecution say he had been beaten with a heavy blunt weapon 16 times on his head while MacBride told the jury Mr Saint must have sustained the injuries while he was being dragged from the engine room on to the deck.

Forensic scientists gave evidence on behalf of the prosecution that blood spatters found in the engine room and on MacBride's trousers and shoes were caused when Mr Saint was beaten.

Forensic scientist Claire Galbraith, who gave evidence on behalf of the defence, told the court the blood stains could have been caused by other reasons, such as when the body was moved or if Mr Saint had coughed.

The jury heard Mr Saint had suffered from dizzy spells after being diagnosed with labyrinthitis, a condition affecting the inner ear, 30 years ago.

In 1978, he broke a wrist after falling off a jetty but it was not known whether it was linked to his condition.

Earlier MacBride, a father of four, told the jury he found the money to pay for the boat on a train he was working on a few weeks earlier.

He said after disposing of Mr Saint's body, he also threw the cash into the sea.

The trial continues.