Former deputy headteacher Sion Jenkins was under pressure both at work and at home when he allegedly battered his teenage foster daughter to death with an iron bar, a court heard.

On the opening day of his murder retrial, the Old Bailey heard how 13-year-old Billie-Jo Jenkins had been the victim of a frenzied attack.

Billie-Jo, a pupil at Helenswood School on The Ridge, in St Leonards, had been struck at least five times, resulting in serious head injuries from which she died.

In opening evidence, the Crown alleged that 47-year-old Jenkins, former deputy headteacher at William Parker School in Parkstone Road, Hastings, murdered her and then went on a contrived journey to a DIY store before returning to find her body.

Prosecuting counsel Nicholas Hilliard said Jenkins' account of his movements that afternoon changed in the days after the killing.

He also said his actions directly after he allegedly murdered Billie-Jo made him wide open to suspicion.

During his 999 call, Jenkins told the operator he had returned to his home in Lower Park Road, Hastings, after picking up his daughter Lottie from a clarinet lesson with a second daughter Annie before finding Billie-Jo.

However, later Mr Hilliard said he told police he waited in the car with Annie while Lottie went inside the house to collect some money before they all went to buy some white spirit.

Mr Hilliard said this version of events changed again later when Jenkins told a detective that he and Annie waited at the top of the steps outside the house while Lottie went inside to drop off her clarinet.

Later, in a witness statement, the court heard Jenkins' account changed again and he told police he had actually gone inside the house after collecting Lottie, went into the hallway to turn down a radio and left for the Do It All store without noticing Billie-Jo on the patio.

Mr Hilliard said: "He must have been shocked and distressed by what happened so it's only fair to make allowances for that.

"On the other hand, the defendant was extremely competent to remember some other details.

"Were those three examples of forgetfulness or were they work in progress.

"The defendant trying to think of a story not knowing who else might have seen him or who the police might speak to and what they might say."

Mr Hilliard said Billie-Jo's killing took place in the context of a tense previous 24 hours. He said Billie-Jo could be a source of tension.

Jenkins was also said to be under pressure at work after lying on his CV to secure promotion as a headteacher at William Parker School.

Mr Hilliard said that even before her death Jenkins and his wife Lois, from whom he is now divorced, rowed furiously about Billie-Jo during a night out at a pub with their friends.

The following morning, the day of Billie-Jo's death, the teenager is said to have called Mrs Jenkins a "bitch".

Later on in the afternoon, Billie-Jo was asked to paint the patio doors and was shown how to do it by Jenkins.

However, Mr Hilliard said that when he went to check on her he found she had painted outside of where he had instructed and had got paint on the glass and patio tiles.

The Crown allege that Jenkins battered Billie-Jo to death with an iron bar lying nearby during a narrow time gap.

Mr Hilliard said Jenkins then went on an extended trip to a Do It All store on the pretence of buying some white spirit to clean up the paint.

According to the prosecution, white spirit was already stored in a utility room at the house and when Jenkins arrived at Do It All he apparently remembered he had no money on him so had to drive back.

It was then on the return that Billie-Jo's body was found, Mr Hilliard said.

Jenkins denies murder.

The trial continues.