Accused used 'video choke hold'
A fitness coach strangled a client, using a choke hold learned from a wrestling video then stabbed him, a court has heard.
Kevin Beckingham, 35, was placed in a choke hold by Khorram Azim which left him either dead or unconscious in March last year, the Old Bailey was told.
The prosecution said Mr Azim, a self-confessed wrestling master tried to cover up strangling the victim.
Mr Azim, 34, of Chislehurst Road, Sidcup, Kent, denies murder.
'Manipulative and imaginative'
Mr Azim is accused of killing Mr Beckingham., who suffered from epilepsy and had learning difficulties, on 12 February 2006, weeks before his body was discovered on 7 March.
Prosecutor Victor Temple QC said: "The defendant realised what he had done. He had either totally incapacitated Beckingham or more likely he had killed him.
"He then sought to cover his tracks by stabbing Beckingham and giving the impression that an intruder was responsible."
Mr Temple accused Mr Azim of being "manipulative and imaginative" and getting both his girlfriend and a friend to help pin the blame on another man.
He said Mr Azim had claimed to police officers Mr Beckingham's murder was linked to terrorism.
Jurors were told the fitness instructor had pleaded guilty only to one count to pervert the course of justice.
The court was told Mr Azim, a wrestling fan, learned the chokehold after buying a US wrestling video called Ultimate Video Package in 2003.
The wrestling move involves pulling back the head and exposing the neck's carotid artery in the neck and applying pressure to it, Mr Temple said.
"If it is done properly an opponent is rendered unconscious within five to 15 seconds. If applied for too long the hold can be fatal."
Mr Azim "not only received the video but sought to put the choke hold into practice", Mr Temple told the court.
"This defendant's mercurial and unpredictable personality is such that any perceived slight would trigger anger or aggression," Mr Temple said.
After the alleged killing, Mr Azim had turned up at the home of a woman and told her: "I have killed a man."
The trial continues.
