Mark Crook (left), his daughter Melissa and her toddler son Noah were killed in a house fire

by Dan Bloom

A murder trial was adjourned amid claims the main defendant said: "I'm going to tell the judge that I did it".

PC Sanj Tanday claimed Danai Muhammadi made the remark while he was supervised in cells between police interviews.

He said: "Muhammadi said 'police are accusing me of doing it. I didn't do it.

'I'm going to tell the judge that I did it'.

"I said 'did what?' He replied 'I don't know'."

When confronted about it later, Muhammadi said "when I was asked those things he talked to me like a friend".

The murder trial was stalled for around 10 minutes for legal arguments.

The court earlier heard Muhammadi - accused of killing his wife and toddler son - had to have the word "murder" explained to him almost 90 minutes after he was arrested.

Iranian-born car salesman Danai Muhammadi (pictured below) was arrested 12 hours after a blaze gutted his in-laws' home in Chatham Hill, Chatham, killing his wife Melissa Crook and son Noah. His father-in-law Mark died six days later.

DC Ian Godsmark, who arrested him in Coventry, said: "Initially he said 'What has happened to them?'. He was then placed in handcuffs. He was asked to remain calm, which he did. He showed no sign of emotion at that stage."

When they arrived at a police station, DC Godsmark said: "He appeared not to understand the word murder, and it was explained to him that it was when somebody had killed somebody else.

"He then began to cry and rubbed his eyes. We allowed him to sit and after some 30 to 45 seconds, he sat up and said: 'You may as well throw me in a cell and lock me away for life, I can't live without them.'

"He looked up at the ceiling, took a deep breath, wiped his eyes and said: 'I will not cry any more now'."

The 24-year-old car salesman, aided by a Kurdish interpreter, wept and rocked back and forth in the dock at Maidstone Crown Court as DC Godsmark spoke.

"you may as well throw me in a cell and lock me away for life, i can't live without them…” – murder trial defendant danai muhammadi

Muhammadi, his new girlfriend at the time Emma Smith, 21, and 35-year-old Farhad Mahmud, a bouncer at Maidstone club Babylon, deny three murders and two attempted murders.

It is claimed Muhammadi and Mahmud, goaded by Smith, squired petrol through the letterbox of the Chatham Hill house and set it alight after Melissa left Muhammadi.

She had moved back in with her parents in April after he assaulted her and they signed divorce papers a few days before the fire.

DC Godsmark said he and a colleague, DC Dave Frampton, set off to Coventry in plain clothes at 9.30am last September 10 to tell Muhammadi his wife had died.

But on the way, he became a suspect. His car had been tracked going from oventry to Chatham before the fire.

Floral tributes outside the blaze house in Chatham Hill

They joined Coventry police and stormed Muhammadi's home in Britannia Street - but he was at work.

Officers searched the home and found a piece of paper and an envelope, each with the postcode for Mahmud's flat in Fernhill Road, Maidstone, written on them.

Muhammadi was arrested at 2.10pm.

The court heard Muhammadi, who was given indefinite leave to stay in Britain in May 2010, had approached a mental health team after the break-up, but they took no further action.

He sought help for his anger issues a week after assaulting Melissa, and may have been on anti-depressants.

Officers found a note on the windowsill with Melissa's phone number written on it, along with the numbers for her dad, mum, home and grandmother.

On the other side was written: "Where can I get some help for my anger management? My wife has left me, can you help me get some counselling to help me repair my marriage? I'm very tired and unhappy."

Police also found a black notebook containing an emotional letter from Muhammadi to his son (pictured below).

It might never have been sent, the jury was told – but it was written just a few weeks after the break-up.

The trial continues.