The man accused of Jackie Harrison’s murder in Worcester was “a nasty piece of work” who had been trained to kill with his bare hands, the prosecution barrister told Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

Richard Atkins QC said heavy drinker William Cummins had displayed anger and aggression during his evidence – and had even threatened him from the witness box.

“If he’s capable of doing that in this court, what's he like when he’s had a skinful?” the QC asked in his final speech.

Mr Atkins said 48-year-old Miss Harrison was savagely beaten in her own flat in Gresham Road, Dines Green, Worcester, and had been dead for at least a week when police broke in on April 12.

Cummins, aged 51, of no fixed address, denies murder, claiming his lover was alive when he left the Worcester area on March 28.

But Mr Atkins told the jury: “He’s a nasty piece of work. You’ve seen his anger and aggression. He was a constant presence in Miss Harrison’s life until she vanished.”

He said entries in her diary ceased and after March 17, she was not filmed on CCTV at local shops, and withdrawals from her account stopped.

When police searched her flat, Cummins’ fingerprints were found on cutlery, on a toilet handle and on food that had not been touched by the victim. His DNA was found on bruising on one of her arms.

“She didn’t tidy up or use the kitchen. She didn’t function. She was dead or left dying on the bed, covered by a duvet left by this man (Cummins).

“Photographs show it was a time capsule,” the QC said.

He claimed Cummins fled her home when a neighbour who knew Jackie returned home to his flat.

Arrested by police in Dorset, Cummins didn’t ask who he was supposed to have killed because he knew the answer.

“Not a word, no denial, not a peep,” Mr Atkins told the jury. “This man is a killer. You can be sure that he was responsible for the murder of Jackie Harrison.”

He said Cummins had “an explosive temper” and had been trained to kill on a commando course with the TA. The defendant had admitted to the jury how he’d chopped a drug addict to the throat.

Earlier, a defence witness admitted she had made mistakes in her evidence about the last time she saw Miss Harrison alive.

Samantha Baldwin claimed that she saw her in the city centre either on April 4 or April 5.

But after viewing CCTV footage over the weekend shown to her by police, she said she was wrong about both dates.

Defence barrister Richard Benson QC is due to make his final speech today.