A middle-aged woman has denied she had anything to do with the death of a pensioner whose body was found at his Maidstone flat.

Allison Tomlin, 48, admitted she had stayed at John Birney’s home but said she was not there when he was killed.

The grey-haired mother-of-two said in evidence she did not know the 69-year-old victim had died when she was arrested for murder.

His decomposing body covered in a curtain on a sofa bed was discovered at the flat in Rocky Hill Terrace, Rocky Hill, on June 8 last year.

A belt from Tomlin’s coat was tied around one of his wrists. She said she could not explain how it got there.

Mr Birney had 10 stab wounds, including one to the back of his head and others close to his neck and his left upper eyelid.

Tomlin, of no fixed address, and John Barham, 25, of Quarry Road, Tovil, deny murder.

The jury of seven men and five women heard about Tomlin’s convictions dating back to 1985, including theft, assault, drugs, drink-driving and criminal damage.

Calmly giving evidence at Maidstone Crown Court, she said she met Mr Birney around May 21 last year after she had been staying in hotels in Folkestone.

She had gone to the flats with her luggage hoping to stay with resident Barry Quinnell, but he was not there and she ended up staying with Mr Birney for three nights.

On May 22, she stayed at a hotel in Ashford before going back to the flat for a further three nights.

"Who am I supposed to have murdered?" - Allison Tomlin, during her arrest

Tomlin said she met Barham’s girlfriend Alina Korosteliova while at the flat. She said she did not know Barham and did not meet him until after her arrest.

Asked by her QC Jeremy Benson if Mr Birney was alive when she last saw him, she replied: “Yes, he was shouting about the washing machine not working. I wasn’t really listening. I just needed to get out.”

She said that she would have been staying at Mr Quinnell’s flat when the body was discovered.

The jury heard Tomlin’s fingerprints were found on items in Mr Birney’s flat.

They were listed in admissions read out before the prosecution closed its case.

When arrested at another flat at Rocky Hill Terrace on June 10, Tomlin asked “Who am I supposed to have murdered?”.

She had two keys in a pocket of the cardigan she was wearing, one to the communal door at the block and the other to Mr Birney’s door.

When charged with murder on June 13, Tomlin made no reply.

Barham was arrested on June 9 and blood on his jeans had a DNA match to Mr Birney. He was released without charge.

The last sighting on CCTV of Mr Birney was on May 30 when he went to Broadway Express shop.

Barham and his girlfriend Alina Korosteliova, 31, were arrested on August 6.

Barham was charged with murder on September 28.

Questioned by Barham’s QC Richard Barraclough, Tomlin agreed Mr Birney had wanted to have sex with her and hit her, causing a black eye, and held her by the throat when she refused.

“It came up the first time,” she said. “I am quite abrupt and said ‘If you were the last man on Earth’. He didn’t like being turned down. He punched me in the face.”

She denied she left the flat because she was frightened of Mr Birney and said she would have probably returned.

Tomlin also denied that she had returned to the flat after Mr Birney had died.

Asked earlier by her QC about her comment when arrested, “Who am I supposed to have murdered?”, she said: “It threw me a little bit. I didn’t know John Birney had died”.

She was also asked about this comment she made: “I am not bothered about this case. I know what happened, so...”

Tomlin told the jury: “I just thought it was some silly mistake. I just know I didn’t do it.”

The trial continues.