​A former male escort told a court that he had “no reason” to carry out the alleged contract killing of a city solicitor.

Brian Farrell said he had “sympathy” for the family of his alleged target, Vina Patel, but denied murder at Nottingham Crown Court.

The prosecution claims he travelled to Leicester as part of a plan devised by her business partner, John Cort, to kill Mrs Patel to trigger a £1.5m life assurance pay-out.

Yesterday, Farrell told the court that on January 15, 2009, the day of Mrs Patel’s death, he had been due to meet Cort to get legal advice over his ongoing divorce.

He said he was concerned for the welfare of his five-year-old son and ten-year-old adopted son as his wife had threatened to take them overseas.

‘emotional breakdown’

Farrell, who had been working at Harrods at the time of the alleged murder, said he was late arriving into Leicester that day and went to a bar to wait for Cort.

When Cort arrived, he said he had an “emotional breakdown” and Cort had tried to comfort him, but had left as he had a business appointment.

Farrell said he had then tried to follow directions to Cort’s office in Blackbird Road, Leicester, but had got lost and ended up in another pub. He claimed by then it was too late to meet Cort and travelled back to London as he had work the following day.

When asked by his defence barrister, Charles Miskin QC: “Did you have any reason to kill Vina Patel?” He replied: “No.”

It was later put to him by prosecutor Timothy Spencer QC that he had gone to 51-year-old Mrs Patel’s offices and lain in wait until the office was empty before he struck, then fled back to the railway station.

Farrell reacted to Mr Spencer’s statement by saying: “Are you saying that I came to Leicester and then I went back to work at Harrods the next day after I have committed an act of murder? That I casually popped back to work as though nothing had happened and continued to work for three months? Are you asserting that I am that callous?”

He was then led through a series of police interviews given on his arrest, in June 2009, in which he denied having met Cort on January 15, saying he had spent all his time in drinking at the railway station.

Farrell replied: “January 15 was a nondescript day for me. If you told me it was September 11 I could recall that. I have sympathy for the family but it was not a significant day for myself.”

He also claimed that he had been suffering from the effects of alcohol withdrawal and emotional distress as a result of his ongoing divorce proceedings.

Farrell (37), of Queensborough Terrace, west London, and Cort (54), of Rutland Street, Leicester, deny murder.

The trial continues.