A father-of-three was battered to death with a claw hammer in a robbery at the bookmakers where he worked, a court heard.

This morning a jury was shown footage of the hammer attack that left Cheam man Andrew Iacovou dead on the floor of a Morden bookmakers.

Shafique Ahmad Aarij, 21, is accused of killing Mr Iacovou, 55, of Church Hill Road, at Ladbrokes in Aberconway Road on May 25.

Aarij denies the charge but prosecutor Max Hill QC told Southwark Crown Court footage which, the footage showed Aarij going into the branch and then tricking Mr Iacovou into opening the door to a secure area of the shop shortly before 8.30am.

The footage then shows a man in dark clothes and a black baseball cap - that the prosecution say is Aarij - in a struggle with Mr Iacovou.

The CCTV recording showed the attacker pull a knife from his bag and place it on the side before taking out a claw hammer and striking Mr Iacovou in the head.

Mr Hill said: "It's extremely unpleasant. A number of hammer blows are dealt to Mr Iacovou's head.

"Having killed Mr Iacovou, the defendant then removes his baseball cap, wipes his brow, replaces his cap then sets about taking cash from the counter."

The court heard Aarij took £296 from the counter but failed in an attempt to break into the safe.

Leaving Mr Iacovou dying on the floor, the killer caught a bus to Hackbridge, the jury was told.

Despite pressing a panic alarm below the counter during the struggle, Mr Iacovou's body was only discovered by a customer an hour after the attack.

Emergency CPR was attempted but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Aarij denies murder. The case continues.