The partner of forklift driver Stephen Chapman has told a jury the last words he said to her were "I love you".

The father-of-five told her he had to go out promising to return shortly but was instead found dead in a wheelie bin.

Rebecca Leader said Mr Chapman had shown her a WhatsApp picture of the person he was going to meet - bodybuilder George Knights.

Ms Leader - who gave birth on the first day of the murder trial - said he had never revealed why he had shown her the image which he had saved on his mobile phone.

Knights, 19, of Delce Road, Rochester, has denied murdering Mr Chapman in October last year after the two had met following a planned drugs exchange.

The jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard how when Mr Chapman failed to return that night Ms Leader started a search with family and friends.

And after finding Knights' telephone number she called him on numerous occasions - but was told Mr Chapman had left after the two had met.

But the jury heard that after finding Ms Leader's car - which he had borrowed - parked nearby, friends of Mr Chapman forced their way into Knights' home.

Police later discovered his body in a wheelie bin soaked in acid.

The prosecution has claimed that Knights stabbed his victim in the head - and then went partying - returning only to take a picture of the bin.

Ms Leader told how the couple had been together for five years and she was 10 weeks pregnant when he died.

She gave birth last Wednesday evening to their third and Mr Chapman's fifth child.

Ms Leader said that about 8.30pm Mr Chapman told his partner he was going to meet someone "quick" in Delce Road, Rochester.

As he left he said: "I won't be long. I love you.".

At 8.50 she sent a message on Whatsapp, which read: "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"He never read that message because normally it would come up with two blue ticks if they received it but there was only one. Stephen was last seen on WhatsApp at 8.45. I then tried to call Stephen but it went to answer phone," she added

Earlier, the father of the alleged wheelie bin murderer told a jury how he returned to the home he shared with his son and found an Afghan rug covered in blood.

"I won't be long.I love you."

Former Royal Marine Edward Knights said he had received a message from his son, which read: "You have got to come back to the house. This is serious. I need your help!"

Mr Knights told the jury: "I phoned George but his phone was dead."

The jury heard how when he arrived in Rochester he saw a number of police officers in the street.

In his house he found a "tiny" bag of cannabis on a chair and a "tiny" pair of scales with a dusting of cocaine.

"I work for a news company and that week there had been numerous people given fines for breaching lockdown rules. I had that in my mind," he said.

"I noticed my back door was smashed in. I also noticed my camouflage bag, which was on my bedroom floor when I left on the Friday."

He said he could see that on top of the bag was an Afghan rug which had "red liquid on it".

Mr Knights added that police told him it was blood - and there was another rug in the kitchen, the court heard.

Mr Knights was shown a knife and told the jury: "That's my Royal Marine Commando knife which I last saw on my chest of drawers inside my room; on top of my Royal Marine beret with a whole load of marines photographs. George knew that I owned it."

Natasha Romagnosi, George Knights' former girlfriend, claimed she had witnessed him injecting himself with steroids and also took "weed and cocaine".

The 25-year-old gym instructor said that Knights was "fascinated with knives and was always showing the knife off".

She claimed she once went to the fridge at his home but found no food, just a clear liquid.

She said Knights told her "Don't drink it...It's acid."

He also made his own pills in his home, which carried a Superman logo.

The court also heard from the sister of Mr Chapman who revealed that she 'had a gut feeling' about his fate.

"I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right,"

In a statement Lisa Chapman made to police following the discovery of his decomposing body, she told how she rang several police stations as part of the family's frantic efforts to find the 38-year-old within a few hours of him going missing.

The court heard Ms Chapman had first been alerted to her brother's disappearance by his pregnant girlfriend an hour after he had left home on the evening of October 23 to deliver cocaine to Knights.

A friend then contacted her, saying he too could not get hold of Mr Chapman, known as Ginge.

The court heard it was unusual for him not to respond quickly to messages and calls.

Ms Chapman visited Knights's home more than once but her knocks and shouts went unanswered. It was not until relatives broke into the property on Sunday, October 25 last year that police made the grim discovery.

Mr Chapman was head-first in a wheelie bin, fatally stabbed in the head with a commando knife and doused in sulphuric acid.

The car he had driven to Knights' home that night was found parked just three houses away.

Ms Chapman, who described her relationship with her brother as 'very close' told police: "At this point I was convinced Ginge had been arrested and started ringing all the police stations in Kent but no one said he was there.

"I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right," she added. "So I got up and returned to Delce Road to keep looking for Ginge."

The case continues.

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