A 20-YEAR-OLD man accused of murder admitted to police attacking a doctor near Buckingham Palace but denied intending to kill him.

In an interview with detectives Thomas Connor said: "I didn't mean to kill him. I was just pissed off that night. I just wanted to hit something. That was it."

Connor gave the interview two weeks after he is alleged to have robbed and murdered Dr Nadim Gulamhuseinwala in Green Park on July 25 last year.

Dr Gulamhuseinwala, 32, was attacked with a metal railing and died from head injuries two weeks later.

A jury at the Old Bailey was today read much of the transcript taken from police tapes as detectives interviewed Connor in August.

Connor, of Curtismill Way, St Paul's Cray, and William Paton, also aged 20, of nearby Clarendon Way, St Paul's Cray, deny murdering and robbing the wealthy doctor and management consultant in the early hours of the morning.

Prosecutors claim Connor had flown into a rage after a prostitute stole £100 from him in Soho an hour before the attack on Dr Gulamhuseinwala.

The court heard this morning how Connor had told police in a taped interview: "I realised I had been robbed. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I was really pissed off about the whole thing."

He went on to say he and Paton ended up in Green Park, "worked up" on cocaine and booze.

Connor said it was then he spotted Dr Gulamhuseinwala talking to his girlfriend on his mobile phone and grabbed a 3ft metal railing.

Connor went on to tell police: "I ran towards him with the pole.

"As soon as I swung at him he saw me and I let go. He said 'oh my god!'. It hit him in the face."

The prosecution says that while Connor watched on Paton rifled through Dr Gulamhuseinwala's pockets, stealing his wallet and mobile phone.

"I saw his eyes were open," Connor said in his police interview.

"I thought he was looking at me. I got scared and stamped on his head a couple of times."

He continued: "I kept getting a bad feeling about the whole thing.

"I really thought he was dead."

The court also heard Connor describe to police how he and Paton had visited a brothel after the attack.

He said the pair spent £40 of Dr Gulamhuseinwala's money for 10 minutes each with a prostitute.

Connor denied he had planned to visit Green Park to commit a robbery.

The trial continues.