A window fitter strangled his lover and then lay beside her in bed at their Gillingham home, it has been alleged.

When police went to the house they discovered the body of Kelly Price and signs rigor mortis had already set in, a jury has heard.

Benjamin Bowler - who denies murder - is alleged to have called a friend telling him: "I'm not going to lie to you, bruv, I've murdered her!"

Bowler, 40, is accused of killing his 39-year-old lover at their rented flat on the corner of Richmond Road and Saunders Street on January 16.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how when police arrived they found Bowler and Ms Price lying on a double bed.

Prosecutor Jennifer Knight QC said: "Kelly Price was lying on her back with her arms by her side.

"Benjamin Bowler was lying to her right, propped up on one arm so he was leaning over her face When he moved, the officers could see that she was completely still and not breathing."

She said the couple had been in a "volatile" relationship for between three and four years and revealed that there had been a number of incidents involving complaints to the police in January, April, July and December last year.

Bowler, who was "very drunk", was arrested after a struggle and taken to Medway Maritime Hospital.

The next day he told police he felt as if he was in a dream from which he couldn't wake up.

He denied murder claiming it was just a dream.

Bowler said the couple had both been drinking and "sometimes Kelly goes loopy".

He added: "I do remember but I do it all the time when she goes like that. All I do I get her around the throat and go: 'Look ****** shhh' and then she calms down."

A pathologist who carried out a post mortem on five foot one inch Kelly who weighed seven stone and four pounds, concluded she had been strangled.

In the weeks before her death, Ms Price is alleged to have told her aunt Tracy Monahan that the couple argued and that Bowler spent their money on alcohol and drugs.

The prosecutor said Ms Price claimed when Bowler went to work he would lock her in the flat "so he would know where she was."

The week before her death Ms Price had started working at a factory in Gillingham but failed to turn up on January 16.

On the same day at 10.39am Bowler went into an off-licence and bought a bottle of Jack Daniels whisky.

Ms Knight claimed Bowler, who worked for a Maidstone-based double glazing company, called friend Tony Wright at 4.16pm and left a voice mail confessing to killing his partner.

The jury heard two minutes later Bowler had called his boss telling him: "I've done it. I've done it. She's not with us any more... Kelly... she's gone.

The prosecutor said he was asked if Ms Price was breathing and is alleged to have replied: "She hasn't for two days."

His boss ended the call because he thought Bowler "was talking rubbish" and didn't take the call seriously.

Bowler then called a Jehovah's Witness friend Owen Duncan and told him: "I think I may have killed Kelly... something's happened."

Ms Knight added: "Mr Duncan asked if he had called the police and Bowler said he had and put down the phone. At 16.23, Bowler called him back and this time he was crying and sounding distressed."

The jury heard how Mr Duncan immediately walked to the flat and knocked on the door and shouted but got no reply.

He then went to a nearby news agents, which was run by Bowler's landlady, Sahresh Qureshi, and when she couldn't raise him on his phone the two went to the flat.

Ms Qureshi called out and eventually he replied: "Hold on.." and then spoke with her through an open window.

"She noticed his eyes were red and she found his appearance quite frightening and decided to call the police," added Ms Knight.

Officers arrived at 5pm. When they entered the flat they saw broken glass, an overturned fridge and "everything in disarray".

Bowler is alleged to have said the two had been arguing because she accused him of taking too much speed and he had lunged at her with both hands as she was slapping at him trying to get him off.

The prosecutor said Bowler told officers when he had let go of her throat "she wasn't breathing any more but he thought she was playing and told her to snap out of it.

Bowler is alleged to have said he had given Ms Price whisky after carrying her body to their bed...and wept when he realised "that she had gone."

The trial continues.

Read more: All the latest news from Medway

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here

To get the latest updates in ongoing cases, police appeals and criminals put behind bars, click here