Morden Ladbrokes murder trial: Cheam man's killer fled on the bus then wired money to Pakistan, court hears

Shafique Ahmad Aarij is on trial at Southwark Crown Court accused of the murder of Cheam father-of-three Andrew Iacovou as he worked at the Morden branch of Ladbrokes he managed on Saturday, May 25.

Andrew Iacovou, 55, was father-of-three and husband to a disabled wife

Aarij, who is homeless but had been staying in Grosvenor Court, Morden, with a friend he met through the Morden mosque, denies murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, the court heard.

But prosecutor Max Hill QC claimed the crime was pre-planned and carefully executed.

Yesterday the court was shown footage of a man the prosecution claims is Aarij entering the bookmakers and beating Mr Iacovou, of Church Hill Road, to death with a hammer before stealing £296 from the counter and leaving the shop.

Leaving Mr Iacovou dying on the floor, Aarij caught a bus to Hackbridge, the jury was told.

Despite the panic button being pressed, no police or workers from Ladbrokes turned up and Mr Iacovou lay dead in a pool of blood behind the counter while gamblers played on machines and tried to place bets for more than an hour.

Having caught the number 80 bus to Hackbridge, Aarij then caught the 127 to Tooting where he visited BFC exchange Upper Tooting Road and wired £271 to Pakistan, the court heard.

Jurors heard how he then went to Stratford in east London where he exchanged the SIM in his phone and called a friend to ask him to delete his number.

Mr Hill said: "This defendant calmly and purposefully made good his escape on May 25.

"He knew exactly what he was doing and his escape was successful - or at least it was for a time."

He then disappeared for three days before police spotted him on a bus in Ilford and arrested him.

Floral tributes to Mr Iacovou were left outside the shop he managed

In an interview at Sutton police station, Aarij told officers he went to Ladbrokes with a knife and hammer to steal money and that he panicked when Mr Iacovou pressed the alarm.

Mr Hill said: "He said he got the hammer and hit Mr Iacovou with it. In his words he said 'I was not in my senses - I can't remember it all, I hit him with the hammer and he was bleeding a little bit'.

"The defendant is likely to claim he's not guilty of murder, only manslaughter, because it's claimed he was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning."

The trial continues.

This map shows the important places mentioned in the trial. Click on each pointer for more information.