A double murder suspect told a court his life ended the day one of his alleged victims died.

Mark Brown, 41, is accused of murdering Alexandra Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware, 33, six months apart in 2021 - which he denies.

During his trial at Hove Crown Court, Brown said he would switch places with Ms Morgan, a mother-of-two, and would rather go to prison than help police find Ms Ware.

He told a jury he lied to police about the death of Ms Morgan knowing his alibi would not be believed.

He said: “She fell over and died that day, my life also ended that day.

“If I could swap places with her I would.”

Brown told the court if he thought Leah Ware was on the run, he would never help the authorities track her down.

“I would rather go down for her murder and a load of other murders than get her in trouble.

“If you’ve ever loved anyone, you would know what I mean,” Brown said.

Prosecution solicitor Duncan Atkinson KC told Brown he was trying to protect himself.

“You were giving this account after you’d killed her,” he said.

Brown said: “No.”

“Rather than helping, you were distancing yourself from her because you knew she was dead, didn’t you,” Mr Atkinson said.

“No,” Brown said.

Brown, of Squirrel Close in St Leonards, denies murdering the two women at Little Bridge Farm near Hastings.

Part-time car dealer and security guard, Brown described how Ms Morgan tripped on tools in his messy workshop and smashed her head as if she had slipped on a banana skin.

Brown said his workshop looked like a murder scene after she had slipped on tools scattered on the floor.

He said: “Like when somebody slips on a banana skin in mid-air, vertical.

“I saw, as I come round the corner, but it all happened so quick.”

He told a jury she made a gurgling sound and was quivering with blood pouring from her head before he tried CPR.

Brown said he panicked when his workshop looked like a murder scene.

“I’ve got a dead escort on my workshop floor and there’s blood everywhere, what did it look like?

“It looked like a murder scene,” Brown told the jury.

Brown said he decided to clean up the scene rather than phone for an ambulance.

Ian Henderson KC for the defence asked him: “Did you make a decision not to phone the authorities?”

“Yes. A stupid one, but yes,” Brown said.

Mr Henderson asked Brown what he wanted to do.

“Clean it all up, get rid of the body.

“I just wanted to get the blood off the floor before somebody turned up.

“I wrapped a towel and a jumper around her head to stop more blood dripping out.”

Brown, wearing jeans, trainers, blue jacket, white shirt and blue tie said: “I put her in a sleeping bag and zipped the bag up over her head.”

Brown said he tried to mop up the blood with paper towel before asking his partner Lisa Clarke to bring more bleach to the remote farm near Hastings.

Alexandra Morgan had visited Little Bridge Farm regularly before she disappeared on November 14 last year.

Her remains were found in a makeshift brazier at a building site in Sevenoaks where Brown had been working.

Brown has admitted to disposing of her body by fire.

Leah Ware was last seen alive at the farm in May last year.

Brown said his relationship with Leah Ware turned into an affair soon after meeting her on an escort website.

The trial continues.