Chef 'drank and took cocaine before killing Sally Anne'
The man accused of murdering Sally Anne Bowman spent the night drinking heavily and taking cocaine, the Old Bailey has heard.
Mark Dixie drank pints of lager with shots of sambuca and took two lines of cocaine in a pub before sharing two more bottles of red wine, Victoria Chandler-a friend, told the jury. Dixie is alleged to have sneaked out of Miss Chandler's flat, where he was sleeping on the sofa, to murder Miss Bowman.
He claims he stumbled across her naked body and had sex in the drive of her home when she was already dead.
Miss Chandler told the court that two weeks after Sally Anne's death another friend asked pub chef Dixie if he would respond to a police appeal for men living locally to have their DNA screened to eliminate them as suspects. She said Dixie responded angrily, saying: "Why should I? I was in the flat all night. Are you calling me a f***ing murderer?"
Within days he moved to Amsterdam. Miss Bowman, 18, was stabbed seven times after being dropped off by her boyfriend Lewis Sproston, 20, in the early hours of 25 September 2005.
Dixie's DNA was found at the scene in Blenheim Crescent, South Croydon. Miss Chandler's flat was in Avondale Road, just two roads away, the court has heard.
Dixie, 37, of no fixed address, denies murdering Miss Bowman.
The case continues
