A GERMAN man who denies the murder of a Nottingham student almost burst into tears as he caught his flight home after the killing.

David Heiss' voice broke with emotion as he described in court his feelings on the plane back to Frankfurt.

"While I was on the plane, I had a really hard time not to burst into tears. I would have turned to the person on my left and said, 'you might not believe me. I have just done something incredibly terrible'."

According to Heiss, he defended himself in a fight with Matthew Pyke in his flat in North Sherwood Street on Friday, September 19, last year.

Mr Pyke died from a stab wound to his left lung. He was found by his girlfriend, Joanna Witton, when she returned from work.

Heiss, giving evidence for a third day at Nottingham Crown Court, said he had been "very panicky" as he changed his clothes and washed his hands after the alleged attack.

"So panicky you are able to take a pair of Matthew's shoes?" asked prosecutor Shaun Smith

Heiss, 21, of Dauborn, near Limburg, replied: "Well, they were lying on the floor in the living room."

Jurors have heard the attack on 20-year-old Mr Pyke was "cold-blooded, calculated and premeditated".

"It was an attack born out of obsession and hatred in equal measure," Mr Smith told the jury. "Obsession for Joanna Witton, who was Matthew's girlfriend, and hatred for Matthew, because Matthew was Joanna Witton's boyfriend and because of things that happened over the internet."

All three had been members of web forum, Warscentral.com, an internet site which war game enthusiasts used to swap tips and offer each other advice.

Miss Witton and Mr Pyke were supervisors of the site and helped to design it.

Heiss developed a crush on Miss Witton.

Proceeding