Clydach: Murder accused says he expects to die in prison

The court was shown CCTV and heard audio recordings of Mr Whitelock outside Ms Buckney’s flat covered in blood, telling a neighbour he had killed her.

She was found naked and her body was covered with furniture.

Ms Buckney had been attacked with a table leg, a piece of shelving and had been stabbed repeatedly.

Her injuries were so severe, a pathologist was unable to accurately count the stab wounds.

Mr Whitelock described her death as horrific.

He told the court: “I am sorry, I can’t ever forgive myself. I can’t come to terms with what’s happened. I expect to die in jail. I deserve to. I have no recollection.”

In the weeks before Ms Buckney died, Mr Whitelock claims he suffered two significant head injuries.

He told the court “everything changed” after he fell from a derelict bridge while fishing.

He described his attack on Ms Buckney as “totally out of character”.

In 2001, Mr Whitelock was sentenced to life in prison for killing two men including his own brother at a house in Swansea.

He told the court: “Twenty odd years ago I killed someone in a fight.

“People go on about a history of violence, I have no history of violence apart from that. I served a long sentence and kept my head down.

“If I hadn’t had the bang on the head, this wouldn’t have happened.”