THE trial of a man accused of murdering a 19-year-old Basingstoke woman began on Monday.

Kieron Sebastian Simei allegedly stabbed Jolene Colpus to death in June last year.

Miss Colpus was found dead in her flat in Winterthur Way on June 12 after a worried friend contacted police when she could not get in touch with her.

The teenager was found curled up in a pool of blood in her bathroom and had been lying dead for nine days.

Simei, it is alleged, stabbed Miss Colpus with a large kitchen knife in the communal hallway of her ground-floor flat, just before midnight on Saturday, June 3.

A blood-stained knife was recovered by police on a building site nearby.

Prosecutor Stuart Jones QC told the court that Miss Colpus was involved in the possession and potential supply of crack cocaine, and that was how she came into contact with her alleged murderer Kieron Simei, also known as P or Preston.

He said the 22-year-old had drugs runners known as Ginge and Chef, whom Miss Colpus knew, and that she had demanded money from them on the evening she died.

Mr Jones told the court that in interview, Simei told police that he had been angry when he was told of Miss Colpus' demands and went to "sort it out".

Simei, who spoke only to give a not guilty plea to the charge of murder and a guilty plea to manslaughter - which was not accepted by the prosecution - was dressed smartly and bowed his head throughout much of the prosecutor's opening address to the jury.

The jury of seven women and five men were shown the CCTV footage taken from the communal hallway of Miss Colpus' flat.

It depicted the moment the teenager, who was due to turn 20 just weeks after her death, was fatally stabbed.

Mr Jones said: "We suggest that Jolene opens the secure door to the block of flats, obviously responding to the buzzer, and two figures appear to 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. She then bends forward clutching herself and staggers back, turns and runs with her arms in the air, making for her flat, where some time afterwards she dies from the wound."

He added: "We say Simei intended to kill her."

Simei denies murder. The trial continues.