The jury is out in the case of a rent boy accused of murdering his lover in their Brighton flat.

Jurors at Lewes Crown Court are currently contemplating whether Ricardo Pisano murdered older lover Michael Polding at the flat they shared in St George’s Road, Kemp Town, in May 2012.

The jury was previously told Pisano phoned the dead 62-year-old, who he called St Mike’s, on at least five occasions in the days after discovering his body.

The 36-year-old told the jury that he sent the text to “cover his tracks” because he was worried that the death would get him in trouble as he was in the country illegally.

He said: “I knew the police would get involved. “That is why I didn’t call the police in the first place after St Mike’s passed on.”

But the prosecution said Pisano murdered Mr Polding after bleeding him dry.

The trial continues.