A MAN accused of killing a Brighton mother after a night out with friends told workmates the night was "all a blur," a court heard.

Samson Gowar, 19, of St James's Street, Brighton, is accused of murdering mother-of-two Deborah Thomas, 38, at her Park Crescent Road home last Easter Sunday. Camden Pratt, QC, prosecuting, told Lewes Crown Court that Gowar went to work at the Brighton and Hove Jewish Nursing Home, where he was a dining assistant, just hours after Deborah's battered body was found. Mr Pratt said Gowar and Deborah had been together at Cheminees nightclub, in Western Road, for a birthday party. After arriving late for work Gowar tried to ignore curious workmates who had seen him with Deborah, telling them he was too drunk to remember anything. Firefighters discovered Deborah's naked body in her fire-damaged home, tied up with electric flex and with bloodstained tights around her neck. Apost mortem revealed Deborah had tried to defend herself against a frenzied attack in which she suffered more than 30 blows from a claw hammer. The jury heard that forensic scientists found DNA evidence putting Gowar at the scene and also found his fingerprints in blood around her house. The case continues.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.