A former partner of a man who claimed he throttled his partner because he believed she was possessed by the devil has told of his angry outbursts during their eight-year relationship.

Laura Reid-Dick said ex-bus driver Keith Solly would “explode over nothing”. But she stressed that he was never violent to her or anybody else.

Maidstone Crown Court has heard Solly, 62, killed Yvonne Tapp at their home in Southborough and piled furniture high on top of her body.

When police went to the flat in Lady’s Gift Road on December 5 last year he was dressed in women’s clothes and declared: “I am Gladys.”

Prosecutor Philipa McAtasney QC has told the jury that psychiatrists concluded Solly was suffering from such abnormality of the mind when he killed the 58-year-old grandmother as to make him insane at the time.

“The law provides for a jury in such a case as this to return a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity,” she said.

“If this is the case, the defendant is to be dealt with by way of treatment in a mental health institution.”

Jurors are being asked to decide whether Solly “did the acts” that caused Mrs Tapp’s death.

The court heard the couple met when they were both receiving care from the mental health service Priority House in Maidstone in December 2013.

They became friends and then started a relationship. Solly moved into Mrs Tapp’s ground floor flat following his release from Priority House.

Michael Turner QC, defending, said he was not calling Solly to give evidence. He then read a statement by Miss Reid-Dick.

In it she said she and Solly were in a relationship from 2001 to 2009. “I was his English rose,” she said.

They moved into a mobile home in East Hill Park.

She said of the outbursts: “They were usually in the evening. I would let him calm down and he would come to bed.”

Miss Reid-Dick said Solly would go off and stay with another woman called Valerie in Tunbridge Wells he was having an affair with.

They parted for six months but got back together again. But he still had outbursts of anger. He also continued to see the other woman.

“I would describe him as a control freak. He is very manipulative and very good at getting people to do things for him" - Laura Reid-Dick

“Eventually I’d had enough,” said Miss Reid-Dick. “In December 2009 I decided to leave. I couldn’t take his lies and behaviour any more.

“He had a breakdown and collapsed at work before I left. Rather than come home to me he went to Val’s.

“A couple of years ago I was aware he went to prison for trying to set fire to his flat.”

Miss Reid-Dick added: “I would describe him as a control freak. He is very manipulative and very good at getting people to do things for him.

“He treated people like puppets. He is charming. He suffered a recurring nightmare. He described a spirit or presence that was bearing down on him. He believed it was his father.”