Gary Allen trial: Murder accused 'ashamed’ after sex

Samantha Class (left) and Alena Grlakova were both strangled, jurors have been told

A man accused of murdering two women 21 years apart has said he felt "ashamed" at having sex with one of them.

Gary Allen denies strangling Samantha Class, 29, beating her and then dumping her body in a river after picking her up in his car for sex in Hull in 1997.

He also denies murdering Alena Grlakova in Rotherham in 2018.

Mr Allen, 47, told a jury at Sheffield Crown Court that Ms Class was the second of two sex workers he had been with on the night of 25 October 1997.

He told the court that he had "never" previously been to the city's red light district.

Mr Allen told the jury of seven men and five women that he had driven Ms Class away from the area and paid her £30 for sex.

However, he said the condom they were using had split and Ms Class told him: "You'd better not have any diseases."

Mr Allen told the court there had been no arguments between the pair and afterwards Ms Class asked him to drop her off, but he told her to walk instead because he "just wanted to go home".

The last thing he saw was "her walking off", he said.

'Felt embarrassed'

His defence barrister, Katherine Goddard, asked Mr Allen whether he strangled Ms Class, beat her up and then ran her over with his car before dumping her body in the river - to all of which he replied: "No".

"I felt embarrassed, really. I felt ashamed of it," Mr Allen said.

When asked why he had such feelings, he told the court: "I just picked up a sex worker and had sex with her."

The body of Ms Class, a mother of three, was found by schoolchildren on the banks of the Humber Estuary in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, the following day.

The court heard Mr Allen later sold his car to a garage because he owed his flatmate money and wanted to "pay his way" as he was staying in his living room.

Gary Allen was convicted in 2000 for attacking two sex workers in Plymouth, the court had heard

He said he did not realise the body found on the riverbank was that of the woman he had picked up until much later when he saw it in the media and saw posters of Ms Class.

"At some point, I realised it was Samantha Class and thought, 'thank goodness I got rid of the car'. It was a natural thought," he said.

When Ms Goddard asked why Mr Allen did not go to the police at the time, he replied: "I don't trust them and don't have faith in the system."

Jurors heard he had "panicked": "I just assumed people would put two and two together," Mr Allen said.

The court has previously heard Mr Allen was acquitted of Ms Class's murder in February 2000, but "significant new evidence" had led to this second trial.

The court was told Mr Allen went to Plymouth soon after he was cleared of her murder.

Mr Allen confirmed he subsequently accepted a conviction for attacking two sex workers in Plymouth, but denied he tried strangling them and putting one of the victims in "a headlock".

The court heard how he was released on parole in 2003 and was recalled to prison months later for breaching his "very strict conditions", including not being allowed to drink.

He denied telling probation officers he fantasised about hurting sex workers and killing women, and that he had called them "scum" and "the lowest of the low".

The trial continues.