John Broadhurst (pictured) is on trial for murdering his girlfriend Natalie Connolly at their home

A millionaire property developer battered his girlfriend to death during a violent drug and drink-fuelled sadomasochistic sex session at their home, a court heard.

John Broadhurst, 40, is accused of murdering Natalie Connolly, 26, after 'totally losing it' and leaving her naked body in a pool of blood at the bottom of a staircase.

Natalie was found dead at the couple's £600,000 home in Kinver, West Midlands on December 18 2016.

Prosecutors said she was killed in 'extremely unusual circumstances' after the pair engaged in 'rough sex' following a day of drinking alcohol and taking cocaine.

Jurors were told Broadhurst may have wanted to 'teach Natalie a lesson' after finding out she had been sending topless pictures to another man on social media.

Broadhurst is alleged to have inflicted 'dreadful' blunt-force injuries to her head and chest before spraying her face with bleach to clean off the blood.

Opening the case at Birmingham Crown Court today, prosecutor David Mason QC told the jury: 'This case involves the tragic death of Natalie Connolly, who died in what you will almost certainly come to conclude were extremely unusual circumstances.

'She died virtually naked. She died on her own, after she had been left there by the man who said, and still says, that he loved her.'

Natalie Connolly (pictured) was was found dead at the couple's £600,000 home in the West Midlands on December 18 2016

The prosecutor continued: 'He left her at the bottom of the stairs in a dreadful physical state, heavily intoxicated and very badly injured.

'He probably, although we only have his word for it, went to bed, leaving her to die in this callous fashion, knowing that she was in a terrible state.

'How, you may well ask yourselves, could any man that is supposedly in love with Natalie, leave her to die in the way that he did?'

Ms Connolly was found at the bottom of the stairs of the couple's home (pictured) in 2016

The jury was told how the couple had spent the day drinking after watching a West Bromwich Albion football match and going for a curry at an Indian restaurant.

They were driven back home by Broadhurst's chauffeur where the party continued in the kitchen and the pair consumed more alcohol and about two grams of cocaine, the court heard.

John Broadhurst (pictured) allegedly took cocaine and murdered his girlfriend

Broadhurst claimed Natalie said she wanted to have masochistic sex, which they had engaged in previously.

During sex, Ms Connolly was injured by a bottle of carpet clearner and also sustained a serious knock to her head, Broadhurst said.

He then left her at the bottom of the stairs and went up to bed, the court heard.

He claimed he didn't realise she was seriously injured and discovered her body the next morning.

But prosecutor Mr Mason said: 'Perhaps he knew that she had died and left her to go upstairs to think about what he had done and what he was going to say?

'Whether he left her dead or alive, he certainly left her seriously injured and he must have known that - if she wasn't already dead - there was a substantial risk that, if he left her in that state, she might die.

'That, we say, speaks volumes about his state of mind, because if those injuries that she sustained had been anything other than intentional, why leave her in the way he did?'

Broadhurst, of Wolverley, Worcestershire, denies murdering Natalie and claims he only hurt her 'within the boundaries of her masochistic desires.'