THIS was the dramatic admission made to police by Kieron Simei - the 22-year-old man accused of murdering Basingstoke teenager Jolene Colpus.

A jury at Winchester Crown Court has heard how 19-year-old Miss Colpus was stabbed by Simei with a large kitchen knife following a dispute about drugs at her flat in Winterthur Way in Basingstoke.

The jurors were told that Simei, who admitted dealing drugs in Basingstoke, Winchester and London, accepts that he stabbed the teenager in the stomach, but he claims he only did it as a "warning" because "she was taking advantage" of his drugs runners. Simei - who has pleaded not guilty to murder but admits manslaughter - has said he did not intend to kill Miss Colpus (pictured).

Prosecutor Stuart Jones QC told the court that in his first police interview, Simei denied knowledge of the stabbing and claimed he didn't know Miss Colpus.

However, Mr Jones said that after seeking legal advice, Simei confessed: "I stabbed her. It was accidental and it's playing on my mind. That's all that happened, just charge me. You've got your man."

The court heard Simei had smoked crack cocaine and drunk lager on the evening of June 3 last year, when he killed Miss Colpus.

He told officers he went to Miss Colpus' flat after receiving a phonecall from one of his drugs runners - known as Chef - saying that she was demanding money.

Jurors heard that Simei told the police Miss Colpus demanded £2,000 and, referring to the stabbing, said: "It just happened". He added: "I didn't think it would kill her - I just thought it would hurt her."

The court also heard that Simei phoned Miss Colpus a couple of days after the stabbing to make sure she was okay, but got no reply. Her body lay undiscovered in the bathroom of her flat for nine days.

Simei told the police that when he ran away from the scene, he saw an ambulance and thought everything would be okay.

He told the police: "If I wanted to murder someone, do you think I would still be in the area selling drugs? It was an accident."

In his opening address to the court, Mr Jones told the jury: "We suggest that Jolene opens the main door to the flats. Two figures in the doorway appear close together. There is no time at all for any meaningful conversation. Kieron Simei swiftly stabs her. You can see that from her movement backwards in CCTV footage from the communal hallway of her flat complex.

"She bends forwards clutching herself. She staggers back, turns and runs, making for her flat where, some time afterwards, she dies from the wound."

Mr Jones said Simei thrust the knife into the left-hand side of Miss Colpus' body, to a depth of six or seven inches.