ACCUSED murderer Jason Lodge has said he tried to persuade his partner and co-defendant not to go and see David Petch on the evening they allegedly killed him.
The 39-year-old told jurors today he told Cherri Gilmartin, 37, it would be a waste of time to visit the 55-year-old.
His partner of 20 years wanted to tell Mr Petch to stop dealing cocaine to her sister, the court has heard, but he says he told her there was no point.
He told jurors at the Old Bailey today: "[I said] 'She will get drugs from somewhere else, whether he sells to her or not'."
He added: "She was half listening to me but she wanted to go and speak to Petchy."
The pair's visit to the father of nine at his home in Wayside, Fieldway, on the evening of last April 14 sparked the rapid chain of events that led to his death.
Prosecutors claim the couple, of Uvedale Crescent in New Addington, murdered Mr Petch in a "brutal" assault.
The defendants both deny murder and claim they were defending themselves after Mr Petch attacked Lodge with a baseball bat.
Jurors today were played CCTV of the couple walking past the parade of shops in Wayside, on the way to Mr Petch's flat from the next-door Randall Tavern pub.
Lodge told jurors: "I was just trying to convince her to go home; there was no point. I know she wants to help her sister, but she ain't going to stop (drugs); she does not want to stop."
He said he followed Gilmartin because he thought it might be dangerous for her to go alone.
Asked by his defence lawyer Anthony Orchard whether he felt "obligated" to be there, he said: "Well yes, I could not leave her on her own; she's my missus."
He said they entered Mr Petch's flat finding the door unlocked and went up to his bedroom, before Mr Petch agreed to come downstairs and talk to Gilmartin.
Lodge said he then went outside for a cigarette and, when he went back inside, Mr Petch was standing on the stairs and hit him with a baseball bat.
He said: "He hit me on the back of the head.
"Quite hard, enough to make me stumble.
"I was shocked, confused, did not understand what was happening."
He said Mr Petch then hit him again and the pair struggled, each trying to get hold of the bat.
He said he (Lodge) then slipped onto one knee, adding: "He has not let go of the bat so he has come sort of over me. […] He has smashed his face on the wall behind me."
He said the pair continued trying to overpower each other and the fight spilled out onto the walkway outside the flat.
He said he then "managed to throw [Mr Petch] to the floor" and went back inside to get Gilmartin's jacket so they could leave. But when he came out, he said, Petch grabbed hold of his legs, first the right and then the left.
He said he managed to work his legs free; asked whether he was aware his foot had been "in connection" with Mr Petch's body in doing so, he replied: "Yes it hit something, I don't know what."
Prosecutors claim Lodge repeatedly stamped on Mr Petch's head and Gilmartin hit him with a baseball bat.
Gilmartin told jurors this morning she had prodded Mr Petch with the bat to try and defend Lodge, but denies hitting him.
The bat belonged to Mr Petch and was kept in his flat, the court had heard.
Mr Petch died from serious head injuries four days after the incident, in Croydon University Hospital, the court has heard.
Lodge and Gilmartin have eight children together. They were arrested after attending Croydon police station on April 17 last year.
The trial continues.
