A 64-year-old man accused of murdering a young woman with an electric jigsaw power tool has claimed in court that she “poisoned” him with an iced coffee drink.

Neculai Paizan allegedly battered Hungarian Agnes Akom, 20, repeatedly over the head with the piece of equipment at a converted shipping container residence on 9 May 2021.

He then buried her body at Neasden Recreation Ground in north-west London, where it was discovered on 14 June last year, a week before her 21st birthday, it is claimed.

Paizan, of Kensington, west London, denies murder.

The lorry driver told jurors at the Old Bailey on Wednesday that he got to know Ms Akom, also known as “Dora”, over a year and a half.

They met 54 times in 12 months, and during that time she would strip naked, dance, play games and tell him stories about other men she had “relationships” with, the court was told.

Paizan said Ms Akom would ask him for money “insistently” and on the day of her death they met so he could give her an outstanding £20. They drove to the container and sat in his car for 18 minutes before going inside.

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The defendant said Ms Akom, who worked for a coffin maker, drank iced coffee regularly.

Paizan continued: “I started to feel a bit unwell, my mouth was dry, and I was not feeling right. I realised that I had been poisoned, drugged.

“I believe it was from the iced coffee – she drank some of it and then she handed it to me and said ‘You drink it, I’ve had enough’.”

He told the court that he headed into the container to find more cash to give her and felt “sick from the stomach”, adding that he “could not walk”.

Defendant says Ms Akom pushed something into his mouth

He claimed the next thing he remembered was going to the second part of the container where it seemed Ms Akom was “undressed” and he fell.

“I was not thinking straight. Through feeling rather than awareness I feel that someone was pushing a bottle of some liquid into my mouth,” he said.

He claims that when he opened his eyes he saw or felt Ms Akom pushing something into his mouth and he pushed her away and two of his front teeth were “broken”.

Paizan told the court he was feeling “very unwell” and went outside to get some air and had no recollection of what happened to Ms Akom and was unaware there was blood on his arm.

When he went back inside, Paizan said he saw Ms Akom “curled up in a ball, head down”.

“I got scared and I entered a state of panic. What was going on? What had happened? How did she end up like this? I cannot say what happened”.

Asked why he did not seek medical help, he said: “I think I realised there was no life left in her, the poor little thing, and I was in such a state of panic. I did not know what to do, how to go about things.”

Paizan said he was afraid to call the police, fearing they would not believe him and instead he “tried to take her to the park, put her in a good place”.

The trial continues.

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