THE jury has retired in the trial of an Algerian man accused of murdering his girlfriend after a heated row in her Cricklewood flat.

Houssam Djemaa, 23, has admitted killing mother-of-three Jacqueline Barrett in the small flat in Anderson Court, Whitefield Avenue, on December 10 last year.

The student told the jury at the Old Bailey he lost control after Ms Barrett, 34, insulted his religion in the early hours of the morning after an argument over whether he had been seeing other women.

He admitted hitting her twice with a fire extinguisher and then straddling her half naked body as she lay on the kitchen floor and strangling her.

But, afterwards the cannabis user sold some of Ms Barrett’s possessions including a TV and Nintendo Wii games console to raise cash to flee, before changing his mind and returning to call police.

Her mother said Jacqueline had told her the week before the killing Mr Djemaa had either hit her or tried to hit her in a previous argument.

The court was also told he has a history of offending dating back to 2006, including burglary and theft.

In their deliberations the jury must decide whether Mr Djemaa intended to kill Ms Barrett, or whether he had lost control during the argument.