Man ‘killed girlfriend and set house on fire while children were inside’

A barman battered his girlfriend to death then set fire to their home with her two children asleep upstairs, the Old Bailey heard.

Scott Lindsay, 27, smashed Natalie Correa over the head 15 times with a heavy object hours after texting her the words "I love you," it is alleged.

Lindsay, who denies murder, dialled 999 and firefighters rescued him and the two boys from their two-bedroom Dagenham home. He was "surprisingly calm", fully clothed, with his laces tied, while the children were in their nightclothes, the court heard.

Ms Correa's battered and burned body was found downstairs on November 13 last year.

Lindsay and Ms Correa, also 27, had a "highly charged and volatile relationship", said Simon Denison QC, prosecuting. They often split up, particularly after she found he had been having an affair, but always reunited.

"There is no doubt that she adored him," said Mr Denison. On the night she died, Ms Correa wanted to sleep on the sofa because she had a cold and did not want to disturb her partner.

At 9.15pm she texted: "I love you X good night X". He replied: "I love you too please be happy this little family loves you." Both were in the house.

At 12.42am he rang 999 to say he was upstairs with the children and thick smoke was entering the room. "It took him a little while to mention that his partner ... had been sleeping downstairs," Mr Denison said. "Lindsay was found to be surprisingly calm."

He and the children, aged nine and seven from Ms Correa's previous relationship, were treated for smoke inhalation. Ms Correa was found with a fractured skull, hit by a "solid object" that has not been found.

Mr Denison said: "Somebody killed her before the fire was started by striking her as she lay defenceless on the sofa."

Lindsay also denies reckless arson. He claims somebody entered the house, killed Ms Correa and started the fire. The case continues.