A FOOTBALLER accused of murdering his model girlfriend told a court he found her dying at their home, but then left her and went to church to pray.

Ricardo Morrison, aged 22, broke down in tears as he spoke about the day Amy Barnes died from fatal stab wounds.

He told a jury at Manchester Crown Court he had been to the bank to make some mortgage payments, and found 19-year-old Amy at the bottom of the stairs when he returned to their home in Moss Street, Farnworth.

Morrison said he put her in the recovery position, then went to a church in Worsley where he prayed for her.

He told the court: “She was lying on her front and she was not saying anything. I was shocked and I proceeded towards her.

“I touched her and I put her in the recovery position. I was scared.”

When asked by Johannah Cutts, defending, what was going through is mind, he replied: “I was in shock. I was in denial after what I had seen.

“I got up and I walked back and I could hear noises in the background like ambulance and police sirens. I was scared so I just ran and left her there. I was scared about what I had seen. I did not know what to do.”

Morrison is accused of murdering Amy on November 8, 2008, which he denies.

He took to the stand yesterday as the defence opened its case.

The court heard the pair met in late February 2008 and after six to eight weeks Morrison moved to live with Amy and her mother and stepfather in Egerton.

When asked by Ms Cutts if he loved Amy, Morrison replied: “Very much so”. He told the jury they were engaged and trying for a baby.

He said: “People did not actually know and we were trying for a baby as well. We got engaged in early July.

“There wasn’t a ring but she knew that she was getting it for Christmas. It was Amy that wanted to have a baby. We spoke about it and came to a joint decision.”

Morrison is alleged to have attacked Amy on a number of occasions prior to her death.

He admitted he did push her during an argument while her mum and stepfather were on holiday last July.

In the early hours of the day Amy died, the court heard she and Morrison had exchanged a series of abusive messages on their mobile phones Amy had gone to bed while Morrison was downstairs working on a business plan for a debt solution.

After the messages, which were exchanged at around 1.15am, Morrison went to bed.

He said: “It was the early hours of the morning and Amy was still awake. We apologised to each other and kissed and made up.”

Morrison told the court when he woke up later that morning at around 10am, he went into Bolton to pay mortgages for two properties he owned in Birmingham, but argued with Amy again before he left.

The court has previously heard Amy contacted friends on the morning she died and told them Morrison — who was planning to travel to Birmingham that day for a night out — had punched her in the face, sprayed aerosol at her and slammed her arm in a door.

Morrison said: “Amy was not happy about me going to Birmingham that night. She said she did not want to be left alone because she had been followed home several times and was worried the guy knew where she lived.

“I never punched Amy in the face but I did spray aerosol in her direction. I did not slam a door on her arm.”

Morrison told the jury he went out but returned to the house after getting to the bank and realising he had forgotten his ID.

He said that after discovering Amy, he panicked and fled to a church in Worsley.

“The church was locked. When I got there I was pacing around holding on to my cross and saying prayer after prayer. I walked to the bus stop and tried to compose myself because I was in denial about what I thought I had seen,” he said.

The court heard he then wrote a memo in his phone about what he had done that day, but he did not mention finding Amy: “I did not mention finding Amy because I was upset,” he said.

Morrison got a train to Birmingham and phoned his mother, Melda Wilks.

He went to her home and washed his clothes; something he said he always did when he went home.

His 49-year-old mother Wilks, a serving police officer, of Rubery, Birmingham, had been contacted by Amy’s parents about the attack. She asked if he had done anything to Amy and he said not.

Wilks is accused of assisting an offender, which she denies.

The case continues