A man accused of murdering two women showed interest in extreme sexual activity, the prosecution in his court case has claimed.

Mark Brown, 41, has denied murdering Alexandra Morgan and Leah Ware, who both went missing in Hastings last year.

Duncan Atkinson KC told the jury at Hove Crown Court that Brown’s activity online showed he was in contact with several sex workers and had searched for extreme sexual content, including “girlfriend forced to share, girlfriend forced and reluctant”.

Brown, of Squirrel Close, St Leonards, met both Alexandra and Leah through an adult website, where the pair advertised their services as sex workers.

He met Leah in March 2018, entered into a long-term relationship and she moved in with him in a converted shipping container at Little Bridge Farm near Hastings.

She was last seen alive in May 2021 after telling friends Brown had locked her inside the shipping container and had been tightly controlling her life.

Around the time of her disappearance, Brown was searching for violent pornography online, Mr Atkinson said.

He said: “Leah Ware told her friend that Brown had asked her to pose for photographs in the boot of a vehicle.

“She also described further photographs in which Brown held her down and had oral sex with her mouth.

“Ware also told her friend a gag was used. Another friend was told by Ware that Brown wanted to take photos of her tied up and gagged.

“It is a story of an increasingly controlling relationship in which Leah was, and was expected to be, subservient, in which there were arguments and the use of restraints on Leah both physically and through the locking of doors.”

The court also heard that, following the disappearance of Alexandra Morgan in November last year, Brown had texted an old school friend and described himself as a “psychopath with a conscience”.

The trial continues.