Man accused of murdering India Chipchase ‘created a disturbing fantasy account full of self-pity’

THE "oddball" accused of murdering barmaid India Chipchase created a ";disturbing fantasy account" after killing her to "demonstrate his power", a court heard.

"Delusional" Edward Tenniswood, 52, denies raping and killing the 20-year-old whose body was found at his home on Stanley Road in Northampton on January 31.

Prosecutor Chris Donnellan QC told jurors at Birmingham Crown Court to not "believe a word this defendant says" after telling them: "You saw the police officers go into the house and you saw Tenniswood being arrested.

"He said 'I'm surprised you were here so quick. It didn't take you long.'

"He showed no sorrow or regret for what he had done to India Chipchase. Not one word of 'It was an accident' or 'Kinky sex gone wrong'.

"He knew she was dead, he knew he had killed her.

"He had tidied up and pulled a sheet over her body and her phone was in a box under the stairs. This was something he must have done.

"All you have heard from this defendant is his own self-pity. The worst of it came when he said it's very traumatic dressing a body.

"A dead body, because that is what it was, India's dead body."

Ms Chipcase, 20, was found dead at Mr Tenniswood's home after she was led back there on January 30.

Her body was found covered on a mattress and her hair was around her head "like a halo", a court heard.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court has been shown bodycam footage worn by officers who discovered her body.

Mr Tenniswood has said he was "over-eager" to satisfy Ms Chipcase and that she had guided his hands to her neck.

However, he never raised the alarm after her death and spent 22 hours boozing in a hotel before police arrested him.

Mr Donnellan added: "(Tenniswood) described the trauma to himself, not the awful trauma to India, whose life had been squeezed out of her by him.

"Far from getting help, he was only full of his own self-pity. He expressed no sorrow for killing her, but only talked about his own panic and predicament once he had killed her.

"The pathologist found that India died from pressure on the neck. He applied pressure. He did it until she died.

"But he even tried to shift the blame onto her, saying it was a masochistic event and the trauma suffered was his.

"The trauma for him that she so inconveniently died.

"It is unchallenged that India was not just drunk, but very drunk.

"He says he has dated fashion models, he would like you to know this. But what does he see in a 20-year-old girl who is very drunk outside NBs?

"What on earth did he have in mind other than to spend the night with her if she did not resist.

"He thought it was outrageous of me to suggest he was interested in sex. He did not have same outrage when I suggested he knowingly killed her. He just refuted that.

"If this defendant was looking for a drinking partner, that is one thing that India did not need - another drink.

"We suggest you can't believe a word the defendant says.

"It's garbled nonsense to suggest this girl suddenly sobered up and had a bit of a chat about Steve Jobs."

Mr Donnellan described the account Tenniswood gave as a "fantasy" and said: "It is impossible to know what happened in that house. He can't be believed and she was silenced.

"He used the phrase 'typical India'. What a peculiar phrase, what a delusional phrase.

"He met the girl at 1am blind drunk. How does he know her, how does he know what is typical of India?

"But the phrase is a disturbing one, and tells a disturbing story.

"He has in that remarkably short time decided in his mind he has some sort of relationship with her. But he did not say a word of this in interview.

"Either way, he has discarded her and left her to die.

"We suggest he has deluded himself and is trying to pull the wool over your eyes about he did.

"The most deluded suggestion is that he did not realise she was dead. We suggest he could not have not seen that she was not moving, not breathing, not even shallow breathing.

"Her skin colour changed, she was clearly dead. She was floppy and unresponsive even on his own account on having to put her clothes back on.

"Going for the neck, that is what he seemed to do in difficult situations.

"It is not for India asking for sexual gratification, but him showing that if he chooses to show his power, that is what he does.

"He overpowered her, knowing that if he gripped and continued to hold and hold it would kill her."

Edward Tenniswood's defence lawyer Samuel Stein has described his client as "an oddball."

He said: "Why did he re-dress India Chipchase?

"Why did he tidy up after her?

"Why didn't Edward Tenniswood try to run away when the news services told him that a search for India Chipchase was underway?

"Which one of these actions show that he is a guilty man, who knowing that he has intentionally killed India Chipchase has then decided to get away from his awful crime.

"How come her clothes were not torn? How come she had a cigarette or cigarettes at the house? How come she had a drink?

"It will not be easy for us to make you understand Edward Tenniswood's world.

"He is an oddball. He is a man who is infuriating because he cannot and does not stop talking.

"It does not help to warm to Edward Tenniswood that he was older than India Chipchase. He was not as drunk as India Chipchase who was obviously very drunk.

"Whichever way you look at this he did take the life of a young woman.

"But why did he re-dress her? Why did he tidy up after her? These are the actions of an oddball who is probably unable to understand that she died while they had sex."