A jury was shown a harrowing film of a man strangling his fiancee and then beating her body as she lay dying.

David Kirsch, 42, throttled former Chatham pub landlady Julie Butler before beating her on the floor with a bar stool, the court was told. He was then seen to punch her in the face.

Before the jury of nine women and three men were shown the distressing scenes, prosecutor Janice Brennan warned them to get "psyched up and ready for it".

Miss Brennan told them when the hearing started on Tuesday: "You will see footage of her death. It's an unusual death because the murder is going to be played before your very eyes."

They then watched CCTV footage from the bar on a large TV screen which showed Kirsch attacking the 49-year-old for 21 minutes as she lay dying on the ground.

Kirsch, of Aldershot, admits manslaughter but denies murdering Mrs Butler, who at the time was landlady at the Imperial Standard pub in Aldershot.

The attack allegedly happened at the pub on October 8 last year.

The trial at Winchester Crown Court continues.

Full story in Friday's print edition of the Medway Messenger