A man repeatedly knifed his lover and then stabbed himself to make it look as though he was the victim, a jury heard.

Forensic pathologist Dr Vesna Djurovic said Anthony Pate's wounds were the result of "textbook" self-infliction.

Pate claimed he sustained the eight abdominal wounds as he tried to fend off a frenzied knife attack by girlfriend Kim Baldry.

Mrs Baldry, 44, died after allegedly being stabbed 21 times by Pate at her home in Gorringe Road, Eastbourne, after she ended their stormy two-year relationship.

Jurors at Lewes Crown Court heard Pate, of Belle Vue Road, Eastbourne, told police he seized the knife from care home owner Mrs Baldry after she attacked him.

He claimed to have not realised he had the knife in his hand as he lunged at her in self defence on December 9 last year.

Later, he was shown reports detailing how Mrs Baldry had bled profusely from her wounds including one that penetrated her spinal cord.

Pate, 47, told police: "I don't know how I can explain it. I don't even know how many times I hit her.

"When you are kicking out you don't know where you are aiming. I wasn't looking for places to aim at.

"You are making it sound as if it was pre-meditated. That wasn't the case."

Pate, a painter and decorator, told detectives he could not explain accounts by two witnesses who said they saw him trying to bend Mrs Baldry's fingers round the knife to make it look as if she was holding the weapon.

When asked whether he stabbed her with the intention of killing her he replied: "No, I didn't at all."

Pate denies murder.

The trial continues.