A man accused of robbing an elderly woman in a hotel room after his DNA was found on a cigarette butt told a jury there must have been a mistake.

Jose Ferreira, 44, said the cigarette must have been picked up from the street.

Ferreira has denied robbing 91-year-old Tilly Rabinovitch while she was a guest at the Carlton Hotel in Marine Parade, Eastbourne, in July last year.

The court has heard how the terrified woman feared she was going to be raped or killed when she realised a man was in her room in the middle of the night.

She had left her door unlocked and was sitting in bed reading a newspaper when he appeared.

Ms Rabinovitch told police the intruder repeatedly throttled her to get her to keep quiet as he searched her second-floor room.

Her ordeal lasted 40 minutes before the man left after stealing £25 cash from her purse.

The pensioner, who was on a holiday with a pensioners' group, needed treatment for cuts and bruises to her face and arm.

Tests on the butt revealed a DNA sample that matched Ferreira.

Ferreira, of Seaside, Eastbourne, told Hove Crown Court he had never been to the hotel and did not rob the woman.

When asked how the cigarette end happened to be in the room with his DNA, he replied: "Perhaps they found this cigarette butt in the street. That is the only explanation I have thought about."

Ferreira said he gave cigarettes to friends, colleagues and people who asked him in the street.

He said he was a hotel worker and had travelled to England looking for employment and arrived five days before the robbery.

He was not in desperate need of money at the time because he had inherited £20,000 from a brother who died. But some of his cash had been stolen by a prostitute the day after he arrived.

The court heard Ferreira was arrested in February this year. Police had linked the DNA found on the cigarette to a sample taken when he was cautioned by police when he arrived at Luton airport because of his behaviour towards an air stewardess.

He said he could not remember what he was doing on the night of the robbery but during cross-examination repeatedly denied committing the crime.

Earlier, the court heard how other guests at the hotel raised the alarm after hearing Ms Rabinovitch cry for help.

The jury was told she was not well enough to attend court to give evidence and her statement was read out.

The trial continues.