Two women heard a strangled scream in the early hours of the morning Sally Anne Bowman was killed, the Old Bailey heard this afternoon.

Chef Mark Dixie, 37, denies Sally Anne's murder on September 25, 2005.

On the third day of his trial, two witnesses spoke of hearing a scream shortly after 4am on the day Sally Anne's bloodied body was found in the driveway of a house in Blenheim Crescent, South Croydon.

June Cumpper, who lives in a house opposite where Sally Anne was found, said she was woken by a sound she could not identify.

"It was followed by another noise," she said.

"It was a strangled noise.

"At first I thought it might be foxes but it was followed by a scream at the end of it.

"From start to finish it lasted a few seconds.

"I thought it was coming from across the street.

"I thought it was a noise but I didn't think something dreadful was happening.

"I got up and had a look. I knelt up on the bed and raised the blinds and watched to see if I could see anything.

"I looked towards number 26 and scanned within my vision.

"There was building work going on at the time.

"There was a lot of rubble on the path."

Mrs Cumpper then went to check on her son and two daughters, went to the toilet then returned to the window.

"My attention was drawn to a man on the other side of the road," she said.

Mrs Cumpper is expected to continue her evidence tomorrow.

An earlier witness, Joanne Boyce who lives in nearby Blenheim Park Road, said she also heard a scream shortly after 4am.

"I heard a high pitched screaming sound," Miss Boyce said.

"Initially I thought it was a fox but after it happened I heard another scream, which was of a lady.

"I looked at my alarm clock. The time was 4.17am.

"I wasn't sure where the noise had come from but it seemed it was coming from the Brighton Road because it's the main road and any noise we have at night is usually coming from there."

Sally Anne's boyfriend Lewis Sproston, 22, this afternoon denied he had killed the aspiring model.

Asked by defence barrister Anthony Glass QC: "Did you lose your temper and kill her and then dump some of her things around the corner?"

Mr Sproston replied: "No".

Mr Glass then asked why at least one of Sally Anne's personal items had her boyfriend's DNA on them. "It could have been possible. I touched Sally's things lots of time," Mr Sproston said.

The trial continues.

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