Murder accused ‘eager to please in bed’

An ex-bookkeeper accused of raping and murdering a barmaid has told a jury his “over-eagerness” to satisfy her in bed caused her death.

Edward Tenniswood said he inadvertently throttled India Chipchase, on a mattress in an upstairs bedroom of his squalid terraced house, through “inexperience and incompetence”.

Tenniswood told Birmingham Crown Court: “I, in my over-eagerness to please her, either sustained the pressure just too long or just gripped too tightly.”