A POLISH man accused of murdering gay pensioner Edward Highwood has said he tried to kill himself before he moved to England.

Homeless Marcin Orlowski, aged 20, claimed he jumped from the window of a fourth-floor building when drunk in Poland in December 2007.

The defendant only sustained a broken leg and made a full recovery.

The revelation came during a police interview at Sutton police station shortly after he was arrested in Brighton on July 24 last year.

Later in the interview he was asked by the custody sergeant if he had tried to commit suicide since.

Orlowski said he had not but that he was “feeling low” because he had “no home, no job and no money”.

Old Bailey jurors also heard prosecution lawyer Gareth Patterson list the defendant's criminal record in Poland.

This included one conviction for robbery, seven convictions for burglary, five for attempted burglary and one for theft.

Mr Highwood, of Hollymount Close, Blackheath, was killed in his home on July 17 last year.

Orlowski denies murdering the 79-year-old and claims his responsibility for the killing was “substantially impaired” by his chronic alcoholism.

He also says he was provoked into hitting the pensioner with a glass vase because of his unwanted sexual advances.

The trial continues.