A MAN accused of murdering a mother-of-three told a court he was threatened at knifepoint after walking into her home to find her dead.

Brendan Rowan-Davies told a jury he was grabbed from behind and held at knifepoint by an unnamed person after walking in to find Kelly-Anne Case lying dead in her bed.

The 29-year-old told a court that the person said to him: "If you say anything, I will kill you, your family and anyone you tell."

He said he felt scared and left the house and did not tell anyone because he was "scared for his life".

Rowan-Davies said he later burnt his clothes "so they didn't think it was me".

The defendant, from Gosport, denies Ms Case's murder and also denies arson.

Rowan-Davies was speaking during the trial, at Winchester Crown Court, following the death of Ms Case on July 30 last year.

Ms Case's body was found by firefighters lying on her bed at her home in Gosport.

The 27-year-old had her throat cut and her hands bound with cable ties, the trial at Winchester Crown Court has heard.

William Mousley QC, prosecuting, has told the court that a post-mortem examination showed that Ms Case's throat had been cut several times and she had suffered several other wounds.

When asked by his counsel Kate Lumsdon QC if he had killed Ms Case and set fire to her house, Rowan-Davies, who the jury was told has a low IQ and dyslexia, said: "No."

He went on to describe how he was threatened by someone with a knife in her home and saw Ms Case lying dead on her bed.

The defendant said that on the evening of July 29 he met up with a friend and they took a taxi together to Ms Case's home.

He said that Ms Case was a "bit upset" and "she pulled out a knife and said she was going to kill herself".

The defendant said he took the knife from her, hugged her and told her: "Don't think like that."

He said they spent the night talking, drinking vodka and energy drinks and they all took cocaine.

Rowan-Davies said that he told Ms Case that he fancied her as a joke which he told her "every time I have seen her" and he said that "she just laughed" and he was not upset at her response.

He said that during the night, the three of them went upstairs and he filmed Ms Case and Mr Vallender having sex in her bedroom using his mobile phone by "popping" his hand round the edge of the door and filming them in a mirror.

The defendant said he left Ms Case's home with the friend but later returned alone because he had left his tobacco at her home.

He said that when he went inside and upstairs at the house, a person put a knife to his throat from behind and he saw Kelly dead on her bed with an injury to her throat.