A former international hockey player has told a court how he heard sounds "between a shout and a scream" from Margot Sheehy's Kingston flat on the night she was killed by her own son.

Surrey Comet: Ben Hawes paid tribute to Surbiton Hockey Club

Ben Hawes gave evidence at the Old Bailey in the trial of former Surbiton resident Sean Heiss

Former Great Britain captain Ben Hawes told an Old Bailey jury today that as he was going to bed shortly after 10pm on June 11, 2012, he heard the noise through his bedroom wall, which is shared with the living room where Ms Sheehy was found dead the next day, strangled by her son Sean Heiss.

Earlier in the trial: Son Sean Heiss 'strangled mother Margot Sheehy to death and fled to Spain', murder trial hears

Mr Heiss, of The Sheraton, St Mark's Hill, Surbiton, admits killing his mother but denies murder. Earlier in the trial the jury heard he had claimed housing benefit and jobseeker’s allowance, after resigning from his last job, at Waitrose in Sheen, in March 2011.

Wimbledon Hockey Club first team captain Mr Hawes said: "We heard a noise, definitely, and we weren't quite sure to start with where the noise was coming from.

"We heard a female voice and then there was some strange sort of sound, which weren't screams but they were in between a shout and a scream."

The sound persisted for "a couple of minutes", he added.

He then heard what he thought to be an extractor fan, he said.

He did not know either Ms Sheehy or Mr Heiss.

Prosecutors later sought to establish the extractor fan was one confirmed by detectives to be in Ms Sheehy's bathroom.

Other neighbours reported hearing screams on the night of the killing, as rain hammered down in Springfield Road.

One said in a statement: “I heard three high-pitched cries or screams and then they stopped.

“I said to my husband, ‘Did you hear that? Do you think it was a cry for help?’ “I would describe the noise as high-pitched, distressed cries.

"A spontaneous cry which left me agitated. It came from across the street.

“I’m used to the students making noise outside so gave it no more thought.”

A number of witnesses said the area near Ms Sheehy’s flat, close to a pub and Kingston University, was often noisy.

One said she heard a scream but could not say if it was on June 10 or 11.

It was colleagues of Ms Sheehy’s at Intelliflo who first raised the alarm the day after death, the Old Bailey heard yesterday.

Julie Raven, who agreed she had become “close friends” with Ms Sheehy, described her as “very bubbly and sociable”, “not so much confident, quite shy in certain ways. Once you got to know her she was very open and honest.”

On the afternoon of June 11, Ms Sheehy left work with Ms Raven and dropped her at a bus stop, before going shopping at Marks & Spencer and Boots in Kingston, then heading home.

Ms Raven said: “She said she was going to be in that evening. I got on my bus and then we waved ‘Bye’ to each other.”

Ms Raven also agreed she believed Mr Heiss had a “very close relationship” with his mother.

Intelliflo manager Neil Andrew said he thought Ms Sheehy had developed a “mother-daughter” relationship with Ms Raven.

When Ms Sheehy did not turn up for a scheduled meeting the next morning, her colleagues grew worried. They phoned and texted but without reply.

Later that afternoon Ms Raven and another colleague, Wenda Field, visited the Springfield Road flat but got no response.

They called police, and PC David Franks stopped at the flat. He could not see through the windows as blinds and curtains were closed.

After work Ms Sheehy’s colleagues returned with police, who broke down the door.

PC James Walton, of Kingston police, discovered Ms Sheehy’s body.

When police searched Mr Heiss' flat on June 13 they found stacks of medication, both used and unused, prosecutor Sarah Plaschkes QC said.

Det Sgt Matt Flynn was one of the officers tasked with the search.

He told the court in a statement: "At 11.25am entry was forced. The flat was untidy with paperwork and clothes strewn about.

"In the bedroom I saw a pair of hair clippers with a significant amount of cut hair.

"I found the cut hair on the floor odd.

"There was also a significant amount of medication, used and unused."

That medication included the antidepressant citalopram, the court was told later. 

This morning, pathologist Ashley Fegan-Earl described the injuries inflicted on Ms Sheehy.

Facial bruising suggested she had been choked for at least 20 or 30 seconds, and muscles around her Adam's apple were bruised all the way back to her spine, he said.

Mr Heiss also beat his mother about the head during the "relatively sustained assault", graphic evidence showed.

There were several bruises and lacerations to her head and face, including a black eye that forced her left eye closed, Dr Fegan-Earl added.

The trial continues.