Sarah Henshaw: Man panicked after ex fell down stairs, jury told

Sarah Henshaw was found dead six days after going missing

A man accused of killing his former partner has told a jury that he "was not thinking right" when he decided to dump her body near a lay-by after she fell down the stairs.

Darren Hall denies murdering Sarah Henshaw at her home in Norman Street, Ilkeston.

Ms Henshaw, 31, was last seen at the property on 20 June.

Mr Hall told Derby Crown Court he "just panicked" after Ms Henshaw fell during an argument on the evening of 20 June.

Speaking during a trial on Wednesday, the defendant said he did not murder Ms Henshaw, but admitted to moving her body to woodland near the A617 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

He also said he lied to friends and family after her death to suggest she had gone missing.

Under questioning from his barrister, Andrew Vout KC, Mr Hall, 36, said he and Ms Henshaw had an argument at her home after she accused him of infidelity, and he got up to go downstairs.

Ms Henshaw's body was partly decomposed by the time it was found in woodland in Chesterfield

Sobbing in the dock, Mr Hall said: "As I got to the top of the stairs, she goes to push me downstairs.

"I don't think she was doing it to push me down the stairs, she has got her hand on my back saying, 'go on, get out'.

"I put my right hand out to brace myself and she pushed a bit harder, I swung my left arm back out at her and as I turned around she was already falling down the stairs.

"She was not moving, she was just in a pile at the bottom of the stairs."

Mr Hall said he was not trying to push or hurt Ms Henshaw, with her fall happening in a "nanosecond".

Mr Hall said he was "so sorry to everyone" and felt "horrible" for lying to friends, family and the police to say that she had voluntarily left on the night of 20 June, disposing of her clothing in a skip and a recycling centre to reinforce the lie.

The prosecution alleges Mr Hall "callously dumped" Ms Henshaw's body in the lay-by after murdering her during the argument, having let himself into her property on the afternoon of 20 June and staying, despite requests for him to leave.

The trial continues.