THE MAN accused of murdering teenager Hannah Foster has this afternoon taken the stand in his own defence.

Maninder Pal Singh Kohli told Winchester Crown Court how he was an addicted gambler and that is why he was borrowing money from a colleague.

Kohli said his gambling was "like a serious sickness" and he regularly spent money in casinos and on horse races.

Giving evidence Kohli, 41, told how he was having financial difficulty and after joining Hazelwood Foods in Empress Road, Southampton, and began borrowing money from his colleague James Dennis.

Kohli said he was in debt and owed a "few" people money.

Asked about the money that he was borrowing from Mr Dennis, Kohli said he would use "all sorts of excuses" because he was an addicted gambler, adding that he sometimes begged for the cash from him.

The court was told how he repaid some of the money but not all.

Taking the stand as the defence began Kohli described how he was born Chandigarh and brought up in Patiala, some 70km away. The court heard how he had two brothers and a sister and was educated through a school and university in India before coming to the UK in 1994 having married Shalinda Kaur. The couple had two sons together, now aged ten and 12.

Before working at Hazelwood Foods Kohli used to work for Manor Bakeries for the Mr Kipling chain.

Kohli denies the abduction, false imprisonment, rape and murder of 17-year-old Hannah who went missing on her way home from a night out with friends in Southampton in March 2003.