A former BMW car worker accused of murdering colleague Christopher Butt at his Oxford home told a friend he had "done something bad" and was going away, a court has heard.

Martin Cooper is jointly charged with Graeme Faulkner of murdering and robbing Mr Butt, who was found dead at his home in Beauchamp Place, Cowley, on November 9, last year.

Faulkner, another former BMW worker, is also charged with manslaughter.

Yesterday Desmond Smith, who lives on a houseboat on the Oxford Canal, told Oxford Crown Court he knew Cooper well.

He said news that he had been accused of murder "didn't ring true" because his friend was a responsible person who was respectful towards others.

Cooper, 31, of Dane Valley Road, Margate, Kent, has admitted robbery and manslaughter but denies murder. Faulkner, 27, now of Banbury Road, Oxford, denies all three charges.

Mr Smith, who has known Cooper for seven years, said his friend had called him one night in November.

He said: "Martin said that he wouldn't be coming down to see me any more.

"He said he was involved in something bad. I asked what he had done. He said it was bad, that I would hear about it.

"He said he was going away. He never said what he had done.

"What I know of Martin, he was not the sort of bloke that would just steam into things.

"He was respectful towards other people. I never saw him hit anyone."

Cooper was arrested along with Faulkner at Dover docks, having returned from a holiday in Europe where they used Mr Butt's credit card.

Dc Colin Harris, of Kent Police, said when Cooper was arrested he said: "You know what I've done."

Patrick Curran, defending, pointed out Cooper had co-operated with arresting officers and put out his arms to be handcuffed.

Ian Edwards, bar manager at the Radcliffe Arms, in Jericho, Oxford, said he had been asked by Faulkner, who was Mr Butt's tenant, to sign a passport application on November 12.

Faulkner also obtained a duplicate birth certificate, which he used to obtain a passport in London the next day the jury heard.

The trial continues.