A MAN accused of murdering a Canvey mum claims he stumbled across her injured body and held her as she struggled to breathe, a court has heard.

Anthony Ayres, stands trial for attacking 36-year-old Kelly Pearce to death with a hammer and a knife in a flat in Fairlop Avenue, Canvey, on November 19.

Ayres, 49, who served 19 years in prison for strangling a former girlfriend in 1993, denies her murder.

Giving evidence himself at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday, Ayres told the jury that he came across Miss Pearce’s body after the attack had already taken place.

He said that he had visited the flat belonging to her friend Joseph Withers that afternoon after Miss Pearce had asked him to hand over a broken pair of scissors.

He said she had wanted him to snap the scissors so she could use the single blade to clean out the bottom of a crack pipe.

He told the court that he could hear a high-pitched alarm as he walked through the unlocked door.

He said: “I called out hello and tapped on the glass but there was no response from anyone.

“I have gone in a bit further and this mess caught my eye on the right. It was devastating.

“I went straight to Kelly.

“I picked her up and held her to me.

“I could hear my heart coming out of my chest. I was hyperventilating and having a panic attack.”

Ayres told the court that there was so much blood at the scene that it was difficult to check for a pulse.

He said: “I thought she was dead but then she made a sound like she was trying to breathe.

“I didn’t know if that was her last breath or if she was still with us.”

After about a minute, Ayres left the room and decided to head out of the flat.

He added: “The alarm was freaking me out and I thought the police were coming in as someone must have called them.

“I thought that if the police had seen me there then I would be in trouble, so I left.”

He said that it was because of his previous convictions and history of violence towards women that he decided to run from the scene and hide from police.

He was arrested by an off-duty policeman in Southend the next day with cuts to his hands, which he claimed was from snapping the scissors.

He said: “I hate my past and I am very embarrassed by it.

“It means that I couldn’t call the police when an acquaintance of mine was lying in a pool of blood.

“I let Kelly down and I regret that.

“I liked her. Someone wanted to hurt her but it wasn’t me.”

The trial continues.

Accused blames upbringing for violence

ANTHONY Ayres revealed to the jury that his tendency to be violent towards women stemmed from his upbringing.

The convicted killer, who also has previous convictions for wounding women, said his behaviour was learnt from how his father treated his mother.

He said: “I think it relates to my childhood. It’s very much learned behaviour.

“My father was very abusive to my mother to the extent that he wasn’t allowed in the house anymore and they divorced.

“Even as an adult you may think that it is wrong but you have to relearn that behaviour.

“I am a different person now, I have worked hard to change my life.”

He said that while he was in prison for 19 years after he was convicted of killing his girlfriend Dawn Wisdom in 1993, he undertook anger management courses.

They focused on how he dealt with relationships and alcohol.