Friends of a bank clerk told a court she became sick with stress in the weeks leading up to her alleged murder.

Rae Torbet, 19, suffered migraines, fainting and chronic skin problems allegedly triggered by the "jealous and controlling" attentions of her boyfriend Dellwyn James.

James, 31, is charged with stabbing Rae more than 15 times in her face and neck with two large knives.

Covered in blood, James allegedly left a bread knife embedded in her neck and fled her flat in Cantelupe Road, Bexhill, on March 27.

Lewes Crown Court heard Rae, a former head girl at Bexhill High School, was a fit, healthy, popular and outgoing young woman.

However, her best friend Catherine Denning said her health deteriorated during her relationship with James, a fork-lift truck driver at Ryecroft Foods in Hastings.

Miss Denning, a Cardiff University student, said: "She was really very ill. Rae normally coped well what with having a stressful job and everything.

"But during her time with him she was getting really bad stress symptoms, like migraines, headaches and fainting.

"She had to see a doctor several times and take time off work."

It is alleged James was a "jealous and controlling" boyfriend who would not let Miss Torbet have much contact with her friends, particularly male ones.

James, of Chiltern Drive, Hastings, allegedly managed to get hold of a key to Miss Torbet's top-floor rented flat near Bexhill seafront by tricking one of her friends.

Miss Torbet wanted the key back so arranged to collect it from James' basement flat.

However, the jury heard that when she arrived with her mother and step-father they found James slumped on the settee.

He had taken 48 paracetamol pills and vodka in what the prosecution allege was a "melodramatic and staged" suicide bid.

James later discharged himself from the Conquest Hospital in Hastings.

He then deluged Miss Torbet with calls and texts in a bid to reconcile their relationship, it was heard.

Earlier, Miss Torbet's father, Jim, broke down as he told the jury how he had urged James to stop hassling his daughter shortly before her death.

Mr Torbet, an Eastbourne-based Detective Chief Inspector, warned James against bombarding Miss Torbet with texts and phone calls in a late-night conversation.

The court heard James could not accept Miss Torbet's decision to end their seven-month relationship about four weeks before her death.

Mr Torbet said he called his daughter on the day she was killed, something he did every day.

Choking back tears, he told the jury: "She was bubbly.

"She seemed happy and had a lot more confidence than she had had for a while."

James denies murder. The trial continues.