A man accused of beating his pregnant ex girlfriend to death just days before she was due to give birth has told of his addiction to strong alcohol and a computer game.
Tony McLernon, who allegedly killed Eystna Blunnie in Harlow in Essex in June last year, told a murder trial that at the time of the murder he was drinking more than 20 litres of cider and Lambrini mixed together each day.
The 24-year-old told Chelmsford Crown Court that he would rarely leave his bedroom, instead playing Guitar Hero on his Xbox console for hours at a time.
He said that his drinking and gaming habits put strain on his relationship with Miss Blunnie.
Mr McLernon is accused of luring Miss Blunnie to meet him in a street two days before she was due to give birth by telling her in a text message 'Got a surprise for you, hope you like it'.
When she arrived, prosecutors say that he kicked her and their unborn child to death.
He said: 'I was very good at the game and was invited to take part in national competitions online.
'But I played it far too much and she began to not like it.
'One night I heard a bang upstairs and went up to find my Guitar Hero guitar had been snapped in half and the only person in the bedroom was Eystna.'
Unemployed McLernon told the court that his drinking began at the age of 16.
For several years he had met friends in a park near his Harlow home and would drink up to 12 pints of lager most nights, he said.
As his alcoholism, funded by Jobseeker’s Allowance, worsened, he sought out cheaper and stronger drinks.
He said: 'A group of us would meet by a bench and drink. I would normally have about 12 pints of lager.
'But in 2012 my drinking changed significantly.
'I would buy two or three litre bottles of strong cider from the supermarket and mix it with Lambrini to make a drink with 13 per cent alcohol.
'We called it rocket fuel.
'By the middle of the year I was drinking a mix of 10 or 11 bottles per day.
'I would be sick, vomiting everywhere, falling out of bed and at times the ambulance would have to be called.'
McLernon denies murdering Miss Blunnie, 20, and a charge of child destruction by wilfully causing the death of an unborn child.
He told the court how he had found Miss Blunnie fatally injured in the street.
He said how he had met Eystna Blunnie by a bench in Harlow on the night she died.
But as they talked two men appeared and started an argument with her..
Once the men left, McLernon said he gave Miss Blunnie a kiss goodbye and went home
'As I was walking I heard a scream and thought somebody was being attacked,' he said.
'I ran back to see if that person was okay and saw two people jumping up and down.
'I saw the two men run off up a path and, when I saw Eystna injured in the street, I nearly screamed.'
He said he tried to put his former partner in the recovery position.
'There was more blood than I care to remember and she made a horrible sound,' McLernon added.
'I tried to turn my phone on but it took a while to load up. There wasn't anything I could do.
'I saw one of the men running back towards me so I panicked and I ran.
'I was in no fit state to try to defend her - the look in his eyes was terrible and I thought he was going to give me a kicking.'
He added that he had not been able to tell anybody about what happened that night because 'it made me feel sick'.
Miss Blunnie, a catering student and barmaid, was due to give birth to a girl within days when she died.
She told McLernon she was pregnant with his child in October 2011 but they broke up the following year.
He said that he had been 'over the moon' about the impending birth and that the pair had been getting on well.
Asked if the text message was part of a scheme to tempt her to meet him, he said 'absolutely not' adding the surprise was that he had brought his dog, Alan, to see her.
McLernon, who said he had suffered from depression and was prone to self-harm, denied claims he had physically abused her and previous partners.
In the days leading up to Miss Blunnie’s death, McLernon had told friends and relatives she was trying to ruin his new relationship.
He claimed she was prone to aggressive outbursts and told the court she would verbally abuse him in the street but he 'never raised a hand to her'.
On one occasion she threw a china cup at him and on another she bit his chest, McLernon said.
The case continues.
Culled from MAIL ONLINE
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