Emily Longley Murder Trial

A boyfriend accused of murdering his girlfriend in a jealous rage has been accused in court of not showing remorse over her death.

Elliot Turner maintained that he did show remorse to his mother and to friends, and said he had been ''cut up'' about the death of aspiring model Emily Longley.

The prosecution alleges that the 20-year-old strangled Emily in his bedroom at his home in Bournemouth, Dorset because he was angry that she had been seeing other men.

Turner, who denies murder and perverting the course of justice, said Emily attacked him repeatedly in the room and he grabbed her around the neck for five or six seconds to defend himself.

He then went to sleep and found 17-year-old Emily dead in his bed when he woke up on May 7 last year.

Giving evidence for the third day at Winchester Crown Court, Turner told the jury he had ''really loved Emily'' and he wanted the best for her and that she had loved him.

Under cross-examination from Tim Mousley QC, he denied he had been manipulative or obsessive about Emily during their ''volatile'' relationship.

Mr Mousley asked: ''Are you in any way responsible for her death?''

Turner replied: ''No, I do not believe so.''

Mr Mousley: ''So the girl you adored died mysteriously?''

Turner: ''I don't know. I'm not a psychic.''

Mr Mousley: ''Have you shown any remorse at all for her death? I'm talking about a basic human instinct. What remorse have you shown?''

Turner: ''I feel sad. I had to contain myself because you're answering questions. In this courtroom it's been a weird nightmare.''

Turner told the jury that he did tend to exaggerate, that he has an ego, that all his friends called him All-Talk Turner and that Emily was more mature than him.

Mr Mousley asked him why he used certain words in text messages to friends when referring to Emily, such as ''b****'' or ''****'', when he said he loved her and wanted the best for her.

Turner said: ''Just because you call someone a **** does not mean you don't love them.''

He said he slept with three girls during his relationship with Emily, prompting Mr Mousley to ask: ''You had your suspicions about her sleeping with other people but it was all right for you to sleep with other people?''

Turner replied: ''I can't really make an excuse for that. It's not okay. It does sound hypocritical.''

Mr Mousley went through a letter Emily had written to Turner when they went for a break on the Isle of Man. In it she asked him to stop threatening to kill her and not to be so aggressive.

She said his behaviour had reminded her of a previous abusive relationship where a boyfriend had put a knife to her throat.

Turner said he had never done anything like that and she was referring to a time he had constantly pressed a lift button and this had reminded Emily of the relationship.

''You made that young girl scared didn't you?'' Mr Mousley asked.

Turner replied: ''I did not deliberately go out to make my girlfriend scared.''

Earlier the prosecution alleged that Turner ''went absolutely nuts'' at the end of a month of anger and upset, suspicious that she was ''twisting his heart'' during their short, volatile relationship.

When arrested he had his passport in his pocket, the court heard.

He told officers at the scene: ''I never meant to harm her. I just defended myself.''

He then made no comment in police interviews.

Computers seized from his home showed Google searches had been made for ''death by strangulation'' and ''how to get out of being charged for murder''.

Turner told the court he had made those searches while on bail because he was curious and angry about the ''ridiculous'' police questions to him, asking whether he was a gangster or if he had a gun.

Police bugged the family home and recorded Turner's parents Leigh Turner, 54, and Anita Turner, 51, ''fabricating evidence'' and being worried about lying to the police.

Leigh Turner, who runs a jewellery shop in which his son works part-time, is alleged to have destroyed with bleach a letter it was said his son had written, saying he killed Emily.

He was heard to say on the recordings: ''Elliot ******* strangled her.''

Anita Turner took away a coat from the scene of the death, it is also alleged.

They both deny perverting the course of justice.

Emily was born in Britain but her family emigrated to New Zealand when she was nine. She returned to live with her grandparents in Bournemouth to study around the time she died.

The jury was also told that Turner received a harassment warning letter from the police in January 2008 when he was 16, telling him not to contact an ex-girlfriend.

The trial continues.