Bournemouth beach murder trial: Claim of “mistaken identity”

The courtroom was played CCTV footage of the moment of the attack, during which screams were heard.

The camera at Chineside cafe, which was directed away from the beach, picked up the sound of crashing waves from the beach.

In the footage, which was about a minute in duration, Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, said “a male voice” could also be heard.

Charles Sherrard KC, defending, said Mr Saadi would not be giving evidence from the witness box and offered no further evidence.

In her closing speech, prosecutor Ms Jones said to the jury: “I wonder if you were starting to get a little impatient to be hearing from him.”

Later she said: “It turns out the defendant has nothing to say. Odd, isn’t it?”

Mrs Justice Cutts said the case could cause “feelings of outrage and of sympathy”.

She told jurors: “Emotion of any kind doesn’t assist when deciding whether the evidence against the defendant is sufficiently proved.”