A FATHER accused of disposing of a bloodied mattress, on which his daughter stabbed to death her ex-boyfriend, told a court he would have “set it alight” if he wanted to get rid of it.

Edward Adamson, 74, who is on trial at Hove Crown Court, yesterday denied he knew about the killing when he took the mattress to the tip.

He stands accused of perverting the course of justice by helping to dispose of the mattress, on which his daughter Julia Adamson stabbed Robert Kavanagh to death at her flat in Hove on June 24, 1999.

When asked by his defence barrister Pierce Power if he was trying to get rid of evidence, he replied: “Not at all. If I wanted to get rid of the mattress I would have put it on the piece of land across the road where the gypsy encampment was and set light to it.

“I would not have driven around Hove with something like that in my car.”

Giving evidence Adamson said when he went to collect the mattress from his daughter’s flat on June 26, he was told the marks on it were caused by vomit. He told the court: “Julia said Robert had nicked a bottle of red wine and had been sick over it.

“That was her explanation for the substances on the bed and I was happy with the explanation she gave.”

The mattress, dumped in Sheepcote tip in Wilson Avenue, was later found by police.

He denied lying to police by telling them he did not take a mattress from the flat, when officers visited his home the day after the killing.

The court also heard Adamson had left the country to go to France and changed his name following his arrest on June 27, 1999 for perverting the course of justice.

When asked why he left the country by Richard Milne, prosecuting, Adamson said he did not think he would get a fair trial following his daughter’s highly publicised case. She was found guilty of manslaughter by diminished capability.

He told the court: “Our names were splashed over every paper in the country, The Guardian, Liverpool Echo, The Sun and of course The Argus.

“It was headline news in the Argus for weeks and weeks and weeks. Killer this and that.

“A lot of it was misleading as a lot of it wasn’t true.”

The court heard the police had made an attempt to have him sent back from Portugal, where he had moved to, but it was refused by authorities.

Adamson said he came back to the Hove in May last year of his own accord after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and being told he may not survive another few years.

He was later arrested by police.

Adamson, of Hangleton Valley Drive, Hove denies one count of perverting the court of justice.

The trial continues.