A WITNESS has told the Old Bailey that the woman accused of murdering his childhood friend was "messing with his head".

Gagandip Singh, aged 21, of Langdale Crescent, Bexleyheath, died on February 26. His body was found in the boot of a blue Mercedes C-class in Angerstein Lane, Blackheath, at around 2am after the vehicle had been set alight.

Mundill Mahil from Chatham, Harinder Singh Shoker (referred to as Ravi), of Charlton Park Lane, Charlton, and Darren Peters, of Shooters Hill Road, Blackheath, all aged 20, deny his murder.

Yesterday the Old Bailey was told Mr Singh was besotted with Mahil and that she had offered him emotional support after his father's murder in September 2009.

Jurors heard that at the end of August 2010, the victim had spent the night at Mahil's student accommodation in Brighton and tried to have sex with her.

Both parties described it as attempted rape and stopped talking, despite Mr Singh making several attempts to get in contact with the accused, the court heard.

However, Mahil contacted Mr Singh six months later asking him to meet her at the same address.

Today the Old Bailey heard that Mahil had called Mr Singh while he was at his friend Ramandeep Mehet's home.

Mr Mehet told the court that he and Mr Singh had known each other since they were kids, as they grew up on opposite streets.

Mr Mehet said: "He got the call when he was sitting next to me, but he couldn't take the call.

"This is the first time that she has got in contact with him. Then he goes into the car, goes home and says to me 'I will ring you later'.

“Which he did. I think it was about nine and he said that 'Mundil wants to meet me at 11 o'clock in Brighton'."

He added: "From his words I could tell that he wasn't a hundred per cent on going. I said to him 'don't go'."

Mr Mehet told the court, by the end of that phone conversation, he was convinced that Mr Singh was not going to go to Brighton.

Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee asked: "In relation to the fact that Mundill had resurfaced did he ask you to do anything?"

Mr Mehet said: "When he (Mr Singh) tried contacting her, he couldn't get through, so he gave me her number and said 'can you contact her please, she isn't picking up my calls'."

In cross-examination Mahil's lawyer Michael Birnbaum asked Mr Mehet: "In relation to the occasion where he wanted you to call on his behalf, that was obviously because he was trying to contact her and she wouldn't come back to him."

Mr Mehet replied: "Yes. He said to me can you get through to her and ask her what she is playing at.

"You can't ring someone that you confide so much with and then just throw them out the window.

"That is playing with someone's head. It was clear to me that she was messing with his head."

Today the court also heard from the HR manager of Mr Singh's food packaging company, Lynn Hodder.

She told jurors that the business was doing well after Mr Singh had taken over and that they were looking to expand the business in Peacock Street, Gravesend, where they already had a training centre.

Ms Hodder also told the court that Ravi was an employee of the company and that in January 2010, Mr Singh had loaned him £800 for a car, for which she could find no record that it had been paid back.

Yesterday Mahil was accused of luring Mr Singh to her house so that Shoker and Peters could kill him.

The two men are alleged to have beaten Mr Singh up, stuffed him in the boot of his sister's Mercedes, driven to Blackheath and then set fire to the car.

The trail continues.