MURDER accused Alvin Santos “blacked out” with rage before coming to with a bloodied knife in his hand, a court heard today.

The 25-year-old, who denies murdering Linda Lietaviete at Horseshoe Common on the evening of December 12 last year, said he panicked after finding the teenager on the floor at his feet.

He alleged that the 16-year-old, who lived with her family in Bournemouth, had told him she was responsible for an assault against him in 2011.

Santos suffered a head injury in the attack, which left him with problems controlling his anger, he said.

Following the incident, he began to carry a knife with him for situations when he might feel “worried”, the court heard.

He told the jury that Miss Lietaviete said she had “set him up” to be attacked when he was still recovering in the hospital, and the subject had been discussed again on the night of her death.

Cross-examining the defendant, Kerry Maylin said: "You know you showed your anger. You pulled a knife out didn't you?

"You stabbed Linda at least seven times didn't you?

"What made you stop? How did you get control of yourself?"

Santos said he was "really, really drunk" at the time having consumed half a litre of vodka.

After realising that Miss Lietaviete was lying on the ground at his feet, the defendant said he used the light on his phone to try and see her wounds.

He told the court that he initially believed he might still be able to save her, as he thought she was still breathing.

However, when he looked at her face, he saw it was “frozen”.

“I really, really panicked,” he said.

“I didn't want people to see the body. I wasn't thinking very much.”

He attempted to conceal Miss Lietaviete's body under a pile of leaves before returning to the home he shared with his sister, Catherine, he said, adding: “I was out of my mind.”

Ms Maylin said Santos had wanted a relationship with the victim, not the other way around as he told police.

However, the defendant told police during interview that he thought of the former Glenmoor schoolgirl as being “a little sister”.

The jury at Winchester Crown Court was told last week at the opening of the trial that Santos, of Wimborne Road, Bournemouth, had admitted manslaughter, but entered a not guilty plea to a single charge of murder.

However, this was not accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The trial continues.