Briton accused of Dordogne murder

BRITISH garden handyman Neil Ludlam, 33, has gone on trial at the Cour d'Assises in Périgueux accused of the murder of Dordogne golf course owner Peter Fuller.

Ludlam, who has been held in jail since July 2009 after being arrested at Luton Airport as he stepped off a flight from Bordeaux, said that he and Mr Fuller had had a drunken argument and had fought. However he denies killing him.

He is accused of the murder of 67-year-old Mr Fuller, a former engineer with Total in Paris, who owned Les Mirandes golf course near Plaisance, Issigeac.

Ludlam was employed as a gardener and handyman at the golf course and lived on-site in a caravan. His lawyer, Philippe De Caunes, said that he "had no memory of what happened and regretted what had happened - all the while asking how he could have done such a thing to someone he saw as a friend".

Mr Fuller's blood-covered body was discovered by his ex-wife Villi, who also worked at the golf course. When gendarmes were called they discovered that two cars were missing - one, a Citroen AX, was found crashed a few minutes away and the other, a Mercedes, was found in Bordeaux.