The political asylum seeker charged with the murder of Liz Amlot this week told the Old Bailey how alcohol turned him into a Jekyll-and-Hyde character.

Kurd Sertan Balci, 21, who lives in Woodside Avenue, North Finchley, smirked as he gave evidence on Tuesday at the trial of the murder of Miss Amlot of Holmdene, Holden Road, Woodside Park.

She died five weeks after a savage attack left her semi-naked and fighting for life in a deserted alleyway by Holden Road at 1.40am on New Year's Day, 2001.

Balci admitted being drunk and swigging from a bottle of whisky, mixed with brandy and coke, on the night of the attack.

He told the court: "I can handle my drink but it seems to have an effect where I change into another person."

Balci described the attack on Miss Amlot as a robbery claiming the buttons on her shirt came open as he kicked her to let go of him.

He said: "I kicked her to get away as she had her hands around my left leg. I kicked her with my right leg. There was some blood on her chest."

However Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting, said: "You are lying. You ripped her buttons open, ripped her watch off, pulled her pants down and ripped her trousers down too."

The court heard how Miss Amlot was found with shoe prints on her chest, head and neck.

However, it could not be proved that Balci's bloodstained trainers, which provided a one in a billion match with Miss Amlot's DNA, were responsible for the injuries on her chest.

During the cross-examination, Balci was seen smirking, which spurred Mr Hilliard on to ask whether something he was saying was "amusing". Balci replied "no."

The unemployed man came to this country with his family when he was a small boy and then went in and out of care. He denies murdering Miss Amlot but admits mugging and kicking her. The trial continues.