Model killing accused 'got moody'

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A chef accused of murdering a model was prone to "get angry at the slightest thing," a court has heard.

Mark Dixie, 37, was the "life and soul of the party" when taking drugs but "moody" the next day, said Stacey Nivet, mother of his four-year-old son.

She told the Old Bailey he was "just as repulsed" as she was when she read about the murder of Sally Anne Bowman.

Dixie denies stabbing the 18-year-old seven times in her driveway in Croydon, south London, during a sex attack.

'On-off relationship'

He claims he was affected by drink and cocaine when he found her body in the middle of the night and had sex with the corpse.

Miss Nivet described her on-off relationship with Dixie in a witness statement read out in court.

It began in June 2002 when she moved to London from Manchester and began working as a barmaid at a pub in south Croydon, where he also worked.

They moved in together but the relationship later deteriorated, Miss Nivet said.

"We never saw each other. We worked really long hours which put a strain on our relationship.

"Mark wasn't there for me. He didn't do anything emotionally. We would argue constantly. He would get angry at the slightest thing."

Miss Nivet said Dixie had smoked cannabis since the age of 14 and that he also used cocaine.

"Immediately after drugs, Mark was the life and soul of the party. The next day he would be angry and moody."

'Sickened by it'

Miss Nivet left him and moved away to East Grinstead in September 2005 and Dixie lost his job and moved to Amsterdam where he rented a room in the red light district, the court heard.

She said she paid particular attention to news of Sally Anne's murder when she read about it because it happened in Blenheim Crescent, where she had lived with Dixie.

She said: "Mark appeared to be just as repulsed by the murder as I was. There is no indication that he was anything but sickened by it.

"I was the one saying how sad it was, there is someone walking around who did this and could do this again. He agreed."

Forensic scientist Julie-Ann Cornelius told jurors that the chances of the DNA found on her body not being from Dixie were a billion to one.

The trial was adjourned until Tuesday.