The victim of an alleged contract killing had raised concerns to a friend about her business partner's spending habits, a court was told.

Solicitor Vina Patel, 51, whose body was found at her offices on January, 15, 2009, told a friend John Cort was "taking out more money than he was bringing in" to the business.

Cort (54), of Rutland Street, Leicester city centre, is accused of arranging for part-time male escort Brian Farrell, (37), of Queensborough Terrace, west London, to murder Mrs Patel.

The court has been told Cort wanted her dead so he could claim a £1.5m life assurance payout.

The prosecution said he needed the money to cover £171,000 of debt and pay for the lavish lifestyle he had allegedly funded by stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds from the clients of the law firm he ran with Mrs Patel.

Both men deny murder.

Yesterday, at Nottingham Crown Court Steven Muggleton, a friend of Mrs Patel, told the jury she was aware of Cort's spending habits.

He said: "She used to tell me he was using the office credit card more for his personal use than business use.

"She was annoyed with the situation and said he was taking out more money than he was putting in and she was doing more of the work."

The jury has been shown receipts by prosecutor Timothy Spencer QC for a number of London restaurants and hotels, including the five-star Grosvenor House, in Mayfair.

The court heard Cort also paid thousands of pounds to rent flats in London for two girlfriends and spent £1,150 a month on his own penthouse apartment in Leicester.

Mrs Patel's husband Surendra, 53, from Leicester Forest East, also gave evidence yesterday.

Mr Patel described arriving at the Blackbird Road offices on the day of the alleged murder to find the lights on, her BMW outside and the door locked.

After collecting a spare set of keys, he and his daughter Anisha, who had raised the alarm when her mother failed to pick her up from work, found the solicitor dead at the bottom of a stairwell.

Mr Patel said: "I opened the door with the keys and rushed in with my daughter following.

"I went straight to the door to the stairs to her office and we found her there.

"My daughter called 999. Obviously we were quite distressed, but we checked for her pulse and checked her airways, but we couldn't find any sign she was alive."

He said he had found pieces of a necklace he had given to his wife on their wedding 30 years ago next to her body.

He said: "The necklace was very precious to her, it was a symbol of our marriage."

The jury heard a transcript of an interview with Cort the day after Mrs Patel's body was found.

He told police he had had an affair with her lasting about 10 years but that it had been over for about a decade.

He said they had made plans to "set up" together, but she had backed out "for the sake of her kids".

The trial continues.