The chances a blood sample found at the home of a murdered millionaire did not belong to suspect David Croke are one in a billion, a jury was told.

Croke, 59, of Bolney Road, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, is accused of murdering Brighton landlord Mohammed Raja.

The prosecution alleges he and Robert Knapp, 53, of Convent Street, Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick, were paid by Nicholas van Hoogstraten to carry out the killing.

All three deny murder and Hoogstraten, of High Cross estate, Framfield, also denies conspiracy to murder.

Forensic science expert Martin Whittaker told the Old Bailey a sample of a blood smear on Mr Raja's front door was compared with a cheek swab taken from Croke.

He said the two DNA samples matched.

Mr Whittaker said: "I considered two alternatives for that finding. Firstly, I considered the possibility that the blood of the swab definitely came from Mr Croke and then I considered the possibility that the blood came from someone else, not related to Mr Croke, and that match had been obtained by chance.

"If the second alternative was true - that the blood had come from someone else - the chance matching profiles would be obtained in is the order of one in one billion. One billion is 1,000 million."

He said there was a sliding scale of how supportive DNA evidence was and this match was at the very top level.

Mr Whittaker continued: "In my opinion the scientific evidence provides extremely strong support for the assertion that this blood on the swab came from David Croke rather than someone else unrelated to him."

Earlier, the court had heard evidence about items recovered from a burnt out van Croke and Knapp are alleged to have used to flee Mr Raja's home in Sutton, Surrey, after the murder on July 2 1999.

These included a 9in knife, overalls, petrol cans and part of a fertiliser bag.

Yesterday, excerpts from Hoogstraten's diaries from 1998 and 1999 were read to the jury by Detective Constable Simon Boon, a member of the team investigating the Mr Raja's death.

Police seized two of Hoogstaten's diaries from a briefcase at a hotel he owns and the third from under a table at High Cross, the court heard.

They reveal that on the day of Mr Raja's death Hoogstraten flew to Nice from Gatwick and returned four days later.

The books detail a series of payments to Robert Knapp which included:

August 8 1999: "£2,000 cash loaned to Bob."

November 7 1999: "£1,000 cash loaned to Bob (total £6,000)"

Several entries included references to the "Raja nonsense" - believed to relate to Mr Raja's legal action against Hoogstraten for alleged fraud.

Two references read: "Old Bill, re: Raja" and on November 18 1999: "4pm: Old Bill, Hove Police Station Re: Raja".

The trial continues