A killer has told a jury he still intends to keep his side of a "suicide pact" with his girlfriend.

Alan Royall admitted he suffocated and strangled his girlfriend but failed to kill himself despite taking a cocktail of whisky and tablets.

But he told Chelmsford Crown Court he still intends to kill himself and join girlfriend Samantha Murphy "on the other side."

The prosecution in Royall's trial on a charge of murder said there was no suicide pact.

Robert Fischel QC, prosecuting, said the alleged murder took place because Royall was jealous and obsessed with Miss Murphy, 28, and did not want her to leave him for a trip to New Zealand.

But Royall told the jury yesterday the pact did exist and he was determined to keep his side of the bargain.

He said: "I would never have killed her unless I knew I was going to be with her again.

"I went out to get tablets to do what I did. I promised her that. I still hold to that promise. I will follow up as soon as I get the opportunity. I can assure you of that."

Earlier Royall, 50, described in graphic detail exacly how he had killed Miss Murphy in the flat they shared at Quayside Court, The Quay, Harwich, last November.

He told the jury how the two of them were chatting over the planned trip to New Zealand when suicide was mentioned.

"The prospect of dying together and reincarnation cropped up and we decided after a little while we would go together and spoke about various methods of how to do it," Royall told the jury.

"A decision was reached. It was decided I would put a pillow over her face and I would promise to go by tablets. She made me promise I would do it after her.

Royall said he took around 80 Paracetamol tablets. He said he remembered phoning Miss Murphy's mother and leaving a message about the suicide pact. The next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital.

The prosecution alleges Royall murdered Miss Murphy on November 26 last year. He denies the charge but has admitted manslaughter. This plea has not been accepted by the prosecution.

Mr Fischel told Royall: "There was no agreement. There was no pact.

"You are a jealous and self-centred man who could not live without her. You deliberately murdered her in cold blood."

Royall denies the claim.

The jury in the case has retired to consider its verdict.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.