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A man accused of murdering India Chipchase has told a jury they “bonded” after being refused entry to the same nightclub.

Edward Tenniswood, 52, allegedly raped and killed the 20 year old barmaid within hours of the chance meeting outside NBs bar.

Describing himself as “quite chivalrous”, he told the court how they took a taxi back to his flat for a drink.

India’s body was discovered there 36 hours later with tests revealing she had been strangled.

Tenniswood, who claims they had consensual sex before her accidental death, described the scene outside the club in great detail.

He said: “We kind of bonded because she had been refused, I had been refused [entry]. A little bond that we had both had crappy evenings.

“She then looked at her phone and then she said: ‘Oh my b****y friends. My so called b****y friends.’ She had this tearful burst.

“I just felt sorry for her, I’m a tactile person, and I sort of put my arm around her in a paternal way.

“I kind of said: ‘I’m sure everything’s going to be fine’. I was just thinking: ‘India, calm down and stop crying because this is upsetting me’.

“I said to her: ‘Well you know, I’m going to get a lift home and drink at my place and you are very welcome to come if you want to’.

“She said yes and sort of looked up and her demeanour changed then, like, you know, half smiling.”

Tenniswood and India caught a taxi around one mile back to his flat in Northampton in the early hours of January 30 this year.

(Image: Matthew Cooper/PA)

The jury has already heard how a witness saw a man “leading” a drunken woman believed to be India into the property.

Tenniswood said: “I opened the door and held it, I’m quite chivalrous - lady goes in first, man behind - I close the door.”

The bookkeeper claimed he had just prepared two glasses for them to drink when India threw her phone on the floor.

He laughed as he told the jury at Birmingham Crown Court how they shared a joke about Apple founder Steve Jobs.

(Image: evaanreihana/instagram)

Tenniswood, who said he drinks around three bottles of wine every day, added: “She said ‘**** them all’ and ‘They are all s****’.

“She lightly tossed, in a feminine way, her phone back down onto the floor and motioned towards it as if she was going to kick the phone.

“Obviously everyone knows Steve Jobs , and I said something like: ‘Steve Jobs, bless him, will not be happy with you’.

“She sort of liked that...I said: ‘We’re sorry Steve’ and that’s when we laughed and she looked up and she said: ‘We are really sorry Steve’.

“This is how the bond grew. We just looked at each other and just smiled.”

Tenniswood also told the jury he kept clippings of women who looked similar to his ex-girlfriends as “ornaments”.

He revealed how he suffers from OCD , which caused him to wear latex gloves and put clingfilm over his computer keyboard.

Prosecutors say Tenniswood strangled India after she “resisted” his attempts to have sex with her.

The trial continues.