A UNIVERSITY worker suffered from flashbacks of stabbing the boss he had a love-hate relationship with.

David Browning told a psychiatrist he had been suffering flashback of his father’s death prior to killing his boss Jillian Howell – but afterwards he also reported flashbacks of her brutal death on October 25.

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Richard Noon assessed Browning after being instructed by his defence solicitors.

Dr Noon said Browning was so normal he made for a unique case.

He said: “This is a quite an unusual offence. Mr Browning is an unusual offender, his stability, his normality, his work history his relationship history was all normal.

“His choice of victim is unusual and his writing on the walls and on his victim is unusual.

“All these things push me to think that his mental disorder was severe and this was diminished.”

Dr Noon said that six and a half hours of “difficult” interviews with Browning it became clear he blamed Jillian Howell for referring him for counselling saying he feared his life would be over if he was diagnosed with a mental health condition - which drove his decision to kill her.

Dr Noon said: “He was an incredibly normal until now.

“He described he had a love-hate relationship with Miss Howell.

Browning told the doctor he denied being sexually attracted to Ms Howell however the psychiatrist’s assessment was that he “certainly had an abnormal attachment to her”.

In describing Browning’s account to him Dr Noon said: “What he said to me was he knew he had to kill her when he went round for that meal.

“His plan was to kill her.

“He said ’I knew that I couldn’t recover, I knew if I was diagnosed with a mental illness it was the end of my life’.

“He thought it was right thing that he was going to kill her.

“He accepted that he had a choice and that it was always recoverable.

Mr Noon and a second psychiatrist for the prosecution agree that Browning was suffering from depression – but the jury will have to rule whether his depressive illness was severe enough to cause him to lose the ability to form rational judgement.

Browning of Willow Drive, Saltdean, admits manslaughter but denies murder.

The trial continues.

DAVID Browning’s brother asked him whether he was planning to have an affair with his boss.

Barry Browning, the younger brother of the Fiveways murder suspect, told a jury he had “concerns” when he heard his brother was going to meet Jillian Howell outside work.

Mr Browning said: “I did say to Dave out of concern because he was going for a drink with this lady, was he looking at having an affair with her or going down that road.

“He replied to me ‘don’t be daft, I love Debs.”

Asked by Graham Trembath QC for the defence whether he believed his brother had a crush on Ms Howell he replied “no” - describing Browning and his wife Deborah as “soul-mates”

Barry Browning said that prior to the death of their father in November 2016 his brother was “just an average guy

He added: “Dave told me he had a new boss and that he was hang conversations with her about challenges within the department.

“There was a considerable change in Dave after our father died.

“He said he didn’t feel excited by anything going on in his life.

The trial continues.