A MAN accused of murdering his girlfriend told police he knew she was dead when he left her body to buy cigarettes before calling 999.

Robert Trigg, who denies murdering Susan Nicholson, was arrested and given a caution for assaulting her weeks before her death, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Trigg, 52, of Park Crescent, Worthing, gave a statement to police after Ms Nicholson’s death in 2011. In it he said: “I was arrested four weeks ago for an assault on Sue while drunk. She had a bloody nose and bruising on her arms.”

Trigg denies 52-year-old Ms Nicholson’s murder and the manslaughter of another former partner, Caroline Devlin, 35, in 2006.

Describing the night Ms Nicholson died, Trigg said in a statement made on the day of her death that he had crushed her as they slept on the sofa.

He said: “I woke up about 8.15 on Sunday, I was lying face down on the sofa and also lying on Sue.

“I got up off the sofa. She was still and hadn’t stirred all night.

“I though ‘oh my God she’s dead’. I shook her but she didn’t wake up.

“I said ‘Sue, wake up, stop playing games’. I panicked, I didn’t know what to do. I left the flat, walked downstairs, outside, went to the shop and bought a packet of 20 Mayfair.

“In my mind I was hoping she would have woken up but inside I knew she was dead. I held her hand hoping she would wake up but I knew she was dead.”

Asked whether any other injuries would be found on Ms Nicholson’s body he added: “She does bruise easily.” When the deaths were reinvestigated and Trigg was arrested last November in connection with his two former girlfriend’s deaths, he told officers: “You know they both passed away? I’m shocked. I just thought this was all dealt with.

“Caroline had an aneurysm, Susan, there was an inquest which concluded there was no case to answer. Is it new medical evidence? It’s the only thing I can think of that has arisen.”

The court heard a transcript of evidence Trigg gave at Ms Nicholson’s inquest in December 2011.

Coroner Michael Kendall queried discrepancies in his accounts of events after he first said she usually snored then said she slept quietly. The case continues.