A Breaking Bad fan strangled and dismembered a gay cop after a drugs and sex party before dissolving the body in acid claiming "Satan told me to", a court heard today.

Stefano Brizzi, 50, met PC Gordon Semple, 59, on the gay dating app Grindr and invited him round for a drug-fuelled sex session on April 1.

The Italian graduate later claimed he accidentally strangled to death Met Police officer Mr Semple during a sadomasochistic sex game which went wrong, it was said.

Brizzi was arrested after neighbours complained of foul smells coming from his flat on the Peabody Estate near London Bridge station in south London, the Old Bailey was told.

Officers found a bath full of acid with bits of flesh floating in it and buckets full of human remains. Brizzi claimed he had thrown some body parts in the River Thames, jurors heard.

As the grisly details were described to the court Brizzi broke down in the dock.

PC Semple, who was originally from Inverness in Scotland and lived in Greenhithe, was reported missing by his partner, Gary Meeks after he failed to return home from work.

Opening the case, Crispin Aylett QC, prosecuting, warned the jury: "The nature of the evidence, I am afraid, is such as to call for broad minds and, in due course, strong stomachs."

Despite being in a relationship, Mr Semple was "sexually promiscuous" and regularly used Grindr to meet strangers for sex, the court heard.

Mr Aylett said: "The sexual activity that followed might be of an extreme nature: domination, bondage and much else besides. It is also the case that drugs were often involved."

The prosecutor said Brizzi's sexual tastes "were similarly extreme".

Mr Semple contacted Brizzi on April 1 at around 2pm, despite the fact he was "supposed to be on duty", it was said.

He said he was "free now for hot dirty sleazy session", and Brizzi invited him to his flat, jurors were told.

Over the next few hours, the pair used Grindr to invite other men to the flat for a sex party where drugs would be available, the court heard.

Just one man, known as C.D., tried to turn up, shortly after 7pm, but only got as far as the front door of the block of flats.

When he pressed the entry buzzer, someone who "can only have been the defendant" replied over the intercom, "we are having a situation here. Someone fell ill but we're taking care of it. So our party is cancelled", Mr Aylett said.

He continued: "In fact, it seems clear that there had only ever been two people in the flat: the defendant and Gordon Semple."

Mr Aylett said that "whatever happened" to Gordon Semple took place between 7.04pm and 7.30pm.

C.D. "must have arrived at the front door of the block at the very point at which Gordon Semple was meeting his death inside the defendant's flat", Mr Aylett said.

Brizzi later told police: "I was right in the middle of strangling Gordon", the court heard.

Brizzi said he told the man "look, this is not the right time now, people are falling ill", the court heard.

Mr Aylett said: "So, albeit that he got rid of C.D. by telling him that someone - Gordon - was ill, the defendant had, in fact, been in the process of strangling him."

When Mr Semple failed to return home, his partner reported him missing and an extensive search was launched.

Mr Aylett said: "All the while, of course, Gordon Semple was lying dead inside the defendant's flat.

"Over the next few days, the defendant's neighbours became increasingly conscious of a revolting smell that was coming from the defendant's flat."

On April 4, a neighbour knocked on the door to complain about the smell, and Brizzi apologised and said he had been "cooking for a friend", it was said.

The next day, Brizzi went to a nearby DIY store and bought a 3-in-1 saw set and several large plastic buckets, the court heard.

By April 7, the neighbour had had enough, and called the police. Brizzi came to the door wearing only sunglasses and his underpants, the court heard.

Mr Aylett said: "Inside the flat, the officers were met by a sight that must have been beyond anything for which they had been trained.

"In the bathroom, the bath was full of what turned out to be acid; floating in the acid were globules of flesh.

"On the bathroom floor were plastic buckets containing human remains."

Mr Aylett said Brizzi told police: "I've tried to dissolve the body. I've killed a police officer.

"I killed him last week. I met him on Grindr and I killed him. Satan told me to."

At Lewisham police station he said he had disposed of some of the body parts in the River Thames, the court heard.

Mr Aylett said: "In dismembering Gordon Semple and disposing of some of the body parts, the defendant must have hoped, first, to avoid being caught and, if that failed, that it would be impossible to identify how Gordon Semple had met his death."

A pathologist concluded from the remains that Semple had been strangled.

At the police station, Brizzi told police he heard voices "such as Satan", and said a voice had been telling him, "you must kill", Mr Aylett said.

The prosecutor added: "The defendant had, for some time, been interested in satanic rituals."

Police later found notes which said things like "The Satanic bible", and "Lucifer, I call you forth", the court was told.

Mr Aylett said: "In this way, it may be thought, the foundations of a psychiatric defence were being laid - the defendant was saying that Satan had told him to kill Gordon Semple; there was material in the flat to confirm the defendant's interest in satanic ritual."

However, no psychiatric evidence is being put forward in the case, and Brizzi is not suffering from any condition to support a partial defence of diminished responsibility, the court heard.

Mr Aylett said: "The defendant does not now claim to have killed Gordon Semple as a result of his having heard voices.

"Although he originally blamed Satan, the defendant now says that Gordon Semple died accidentally in the course of a drug-fuelled sex game that went wrong."

Brizzi moved to London from Italy in 2011, and at first worked for Morgan Stanley, while using crystal meth in his spare time, jurors heard.

He later joined a group called Crystal Meth Anonymous in 2014 to get help, it was said.

The founder of the group, Alex Roberts, described Brizzi as being "very dark", who would tell members he believed in the Devil, the court heard.

He liked Satanic rituals, and spoke about having sex over the sign of a pentagon, sometimes seen as a symbol of the Satanic occult, it was said.

Brizzi told members about his sexual practices. Mr Aylett said: "He was keen on domination, pain, satanic rituals and sacrifice.

"At one meeting, he told the others how he had tied a man up and treated him like a dog, making the man go into a cage.

"It may be the case that the defendant used rather to enjoy shocking people with tales of his sexual antics."

Mr Roberts also said Brizzi had been obsessed with the US TV show Breaking Bad, in which chemistry teacher named Walter White started producing crystal meth.

In one episode, after poisoning a rival, White ends up dissolving the body in acid, it was said.

Brizzi denies murder but admits one count of obstructing the coroner in the execution of duty.

The trial, which is expected to last for three weeks, continues.