HAYLEY MURDER TRIAL: HUGO Quintas was seen covered in blood in the early hours of June 11.

On Wednesday, Portuguese national Luis De Oliveira told Bristol Crown Court Quintas appeared in his bedroom and asked to borrow a towel.

Mr De Oliveira had only moved into the Seymour Court house Quintas, pictured right, had been sharing with Da Cunha the day before Hayley Richards died.

He told the court: "He was covered in blood. He had bloodstains on his body, around his mouth and on his hands, on his fingers and right arm.

"He was quite in a state of shock. He was nervous. He said he'd just come out of a bit of a conflict. "He was obviously agitated and upset. He told me he'd come out of a complex situation in the town. "He was holding a belt in his hand which had blood on it and he told me he'd been in a fight outside a bar."

Paul Garlick QC, defending Quintas, read out part of Mr De Oliveira's statement to police, in which he described an argument he had seen between Quintas and a girl several months earlier.

It read: "I looked out of the window and saw a girl knocking on the door, shouting at Hugo and then she slapped him. "It looked like a lovers' tiff. I was told later this was an ex-girlfriend."