A jealous lover killed his girlfriend because he could not bear the thought of her leaving him, a jury heard.

Lithuanian Tomas Uptas strangled Loretta Raupiene before going on to terrorise members of the public in the Wincheap area of Canterbury and finally being shot by armed police in a supermarket before being arrested.

It was when police went to check Uptas’s address in Victoria Road, Canterbury, on November 26 last year, that they discovered the body, said Oliver Saxby, prosecuting.

That evening, police received reports that a man with a gun was terrorising people in Wincheap.

"At one point he held a gun to the head of a complete stranger," said Mr Saxby.

"He terrified the occupants of a car and then went into the supermarket.

"Armed police were called and found the defendant sitting in one of the aisles.

"In one hand he had a bottle of wine. In the other he had the gun."

Uptas aimed the gun at the officers and when he refused to put it down, they were left with no alternative but to fire at him.

He was shot in the arm. After being given emergency first aid he was taken to hospital.

He gave his name and address to officers, who went to his bedsit. It was there they discovered the body of his girlfriend, Loretta Raupiene.

"She had been strangled; the Crown say, by the defendant," said Mr Saxby.

"A murder investigation ensued. It was found that they had not long been together but their relationship had been deteriorating.

"He had been prone to outbursts of violence, especially in drink.

"She had been thinking about leaving him but he was not prepared to accept this and told her daughter that if he could not have her then nobody else could."

The prosecutor added: "Only the defendant can say exactly what happened on the evening of November 26, but what is perfectly plain is that he did kill her."

The trial continues.